穆兄會領袖被捕 穆爾西羈押時間延長

Egyptian authorities escalated their crackdown on deposed President Mohamed Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood by arresting the Islamist organization's top leader, state media reported on Tuesday.

Mohamed Badie, 70, was detained at a residential apartment in Nasr City in northeast Cairo "after information came to the security apparatus locating his place of hiding," the state news agency reported.

The Interior Ministry's Facebook page showed a picture of Badie, with dark rings under his eyes, sitting in a car between two men in black body armour, with a caption confirming his arrest.

"Carrying out the decisions of the public prosecutor to arrest and bring forward the 'general guide' of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie, and through collected information and observation of movements, it was possible for the criminal search apparatus under the direction of Cairo's security (services) to arrest him," according to the caption.

Badie was charged in July with inciting the murder of protesters. Together with his two deputies, he is due to stand trial on August 25.

Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim told the Al Masry Al Youm newspaper that Badie was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday.

The military removed Mursi from power on July 3 after mass protests against his rule. Mursi, who was freely elected but alienated many Egyptians during his year in power, is in detention at an undisclosed location.

Egypt's public prosecutor pressed new charges against Mursi of inciting violence in a move coinciding with a court ruling on Monday that toppled military strongman Hosni Mubarak - arrested after his overthrow in 2011 - can no longer be held on a corruption charge.

Mursi was already facing an investigation into accusations stemming from his escape from prison during the anti-Mubarak revolt. These include murder and conspiring with the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

Almost 900 people, including more than 100 soldiers and police, have been killed since the authorities forcibly dispersed Muslim Brotherhood sit-ins in Cairo last Wednesday.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday called on Egyptian authorities to free Mursi, who faced mass street protests as he marked a first year in office on June 30, or at least ensure a transparent process.

Ban also said "the political space for the Muslim Brotherhood should be expanded, because their political space has been very limited."

"With such sharp polarisation in Egyptian society, both the authorities and the political leaders share the responsibility for ending the current violence. They should spare no effort to swiftly adopt a credible plan to contain the violence and revive the political process," Ban told a U.N. news conference.

The United States also urged Egypt not to ban the Muslim Brotherhood.

Founded in 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood used its organisational muscle to propel Mursi to power in last year's presidential election. The group says it has a membership of around one million people in Egypt. The group has inspired offshoots across the Arab world.

The Muslim Brotherhood emerged from decades as an outlawed movement to become the best organised political force after the downfall of Mubarak. Members of the Brotherhood - which renounced violence decades ago - are accused by the state of launching a campaign of militancy.

The 85-year-old Mubarak, arrested after his overthrow in 2011, can no longer be held on a corruption charge, a court ruled on Monday in a decision his lawyer said removed one of the last obstacles to his release on bail.

Fareed el-Deeb, Mubarak's lawyer, told Reuters: "All we have left is a simple administrative procedure that should take no more than 48 hours. He should be freed by the end of the week."

A judicial source, without confirming that Mubarak would be released, said Mubarak would spend at least two more weeks behind bars before the criminal court can make a final decision in another corruption case against him.

The United States said on Monday it was still reviewing whether to freeze any of the $1.55 billion it gives Egypt in mainly military annual aid. The United States has been a close ally of Egypt, the biggest nation in the Arab world, since it made peace with Israel in 1979.

The United States also voiced concern about the deaths on Sunday of 37 men who authorities said were suffocated by tear gas during a bid to flee custody.

"We are ... deeply troubled by the suspicious deaths of Muslim Brotherhood prisoners in a purported prison escape attempt near Cairo," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters in Washington.

Having initially defended police action, Egypt later said that two officers had been arrested over the incident.

Egypt's second largest Islamic party, Nour, called in a statement for a presidential decree to create an independent fact-finding committee into the deaths of the 37 men and blamed the interior ministry for the incident.

European Union foreign ministers will hold an emergency meeting in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss how to force Egypt's army-backed government into seeking a peaceful compromise.埃及當局對穆斯林兄弟會（下稱“穆兄會”）的鎮壓進一步升級，穆兄會最高領導人穆罕默德•巴迪亞當天被捕。此外，有消息稱，埃及前總統穆巴拉克有可能將會獲釋。而另一位前總統穆爾西的羈押時間再次被延長。

***穆兄會最高領導人被捕

據埃及官方媒體20日報道，當天凌晨，穆兄會最高決策機構指導局主席巴迪亞在開羅東北部納賽爾城的一間公寓裏被捕。“警方確認了巴迪亞的藏身地點後，對其實施了逮捕，”報道中寫道。

在埃及內政部的臉譜網（Facebook）官方主頁上，發佈了一張巴迪亞被捕的照片。照片中，巴迪亞的黑眼圈明顯，兩名身穿黑色防彈衣的男子將其夾在中間，三人一同坐在車裏。照片下方還有一段文字說明：“執行公訴人的決定，逮捕並將帶穆兄會最高領導人穆罕默德•巴迪亞出庭。依據現已掌握的信息，可能會進行刑事搜查。我們正在採取必要的法律措施。”

今年7月，埃及檢方指控穆兄會最高領導人巴迪亞及另外兩名高官涉嫌煽動暴力，要求將其提交刑事法庭審判。巴迪亞等三人被控6月份在開羅的穆兄會總部外煽動暴力和謀殺示威者，預計於8月25日出庭受審。

***穆巴拉克有望獲釋

當地時間19日，埃及一個法庭撤銷了對前總統穆巴拉克的一項腐敗指控。穆巴拉克的律師法裏德•迪卜稱，這項裁決爲穆巴拉克保釋出獄清除了最後一個障礙，“我們需要做的只剩下完成一個簡單的行政程序，耗時不超過48個小時，他應該會在本週內重獲自由”。

不過，埃及司法部一名消息人士透露，在刑事法庭對穆巴拉克涉嫌的另一項腐敗指控作出最終裁決前，穆巴拉克還需要在監獄裏待上至少兩週。但這名消息人士拒絕確認穆巴拉克最終是否會被釋放。

分析人士認爲，穆巴拉克能否於近期獲得保釋出獄，很大程度上將取決於主審法官的裁決。但考慮到當前的政治形勢，穆巴拉克保釋出獄的可能性不大。

2011年2月11日，穆巴拉克在大規模反政府示威中被迫辭職。隨後，穆巴拉克被拘留，所受指控包括在2011年埃及政治動盪中武力鎮壓示威者以及腐敗等。2012年6月2日，開羅刑事法院判處穆巴拉克終身監禁。今年1月，埃及最高上訴法院接受兩項涉及穆巴拉克等人的上訴，宣佈將重新審理穆巴拉克案。

***穆爾西羈押時間延長

據埃及官方通訊社中東社報道，埃及檢方19日下令，由於被控參與“暴力行爲”，遭軍方罷黜的埃及前總統穆爾西將再被羈押15天以進行調查。本月15日，埃及司法部門因另一宗案件，將穆爾西的羈押時間延長了30天。

報道稱，穆爾西現面臨參與拘留和虐待公民、謀殺、謀殺未遂和散播虛假信息等多項指控。倘若罪名成立的話，穆爾西最高或被判處終身監禁。穆爾西自7月3日遭罷黜後一直被軍方羈押，但羈押地點一直沒有公開。部分穆兄會成員宣稱，穆爾西是無辜的，針對他的種種指控均具有政治動機。

19日，聯合國祕書長潘基文公開呼籲埃及當局釋放穆爾西。潘基文稱，穆兄會面臨的政治空間十分有限，應該向其提供“更大的政治空間”，“鑑於埃及社會急劇分化，埃及當局和政治領袖應該分擔結束當前暴力衝突的責任。他們應當不遺餘力地迅速採取可靠的措施，以平息騷亂、恢復政治進程”。

而美國政府19日也主張埃及當局釋放穆爾西。“沒有人認爲羈押穆巴拉克是出於政治動機，”白宮發言人喬希•厄尼斯特稱，“但是對於穆爾西被羈押一事，我們認爲其中有非常明顯的政治意圖，這不符合人權標準。”