Egypt continues with crackdown on MB

Egyptian authorities have arrested the Muslim Brotherhood's former supreme guide Mahdi Akef as part of their crackdown the Islamist organisation's members, following the ouster of president Mohammed Morsi. Security sources said Akef, who left his position in 2010, was detained with four of his guards in Cairo. Egyptian prosecutors ordered on Thursday the arrest of a number of senior Muslim Brotherhood members including Supreme Guide Muhammad Badie and his deputy Khairat el-Shater. On Wednesday evening, Saad el-Katatni, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), and Rashad Bayoumi, the Islamist movement's deputy head were arrested, security officials said. They are being held in Tora Prison, the same detention centre where ousted president Hosni Mubarak and his sons are being kept, state news agency MENA reported. Security authorities are continuing their efforts to arrest Brotherhood members on charges of inciting violence and disturbing general security and peace, the news agency added.