Aboul Fotouh held in custody for extra 15 days

CAIRO - 26 February 2018: State Security Prosecution Attorney General Khaled Diaa Monday ordered remanding Leader of Strong Egypt Party Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh in custody for 15 days pending investigations.

The State Security Department intercepted communications between the banned international Muslim Brotherhood organization and Abdel Mon’em Abul Fotouh, a Brotherhood leader, the Interior Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

His arrest came following a number of successful security operations against extremist groups and militant Brotherhood cadres, the statement added.

The contacts were aimed at plotting unrest and armed sabotage against vital state institutions to create an atmosphere that would help those elements return to the political scene, it read.

Abul Fotouh held a number of secret meetings abroad to activate such plot, the latest of which was in London on February 8, it further said.

He also contacted Muslim Brotherhood member Lotfi el Sayed and fugitives Mohamed Gamal Heshmat and Hosam el Din Atef in Turkey to lay down the executive steps for such plot and decide on mechanisms of addressing political and student circles before the upcoming presidential election.

Sayed, together with other Brotherhood cadres working for Aljazeera television, received Abul Fotouh at Heathrow Airport in London where they arranged for his hotel accommodation and a TV interview that was aired on Feb 11th, the statement said.

They agreed with him on continuing the steps as part of the plot following his return to Egypt on February 13, it added.

With all information available, the house of Abul Fotouh was targeted and he was arrested there upon a state prosecution warrant, the ministry statement said.

Documents in connection with the scheme were seized at Abul Fotouh’s house, it added.

All relevant legal procedures were taken by security apparatuses, it concluded.