CAIRO — Egypt’s security authorities Thursday launched a sweep of arrests of Muslim Brotherhood members and warned that holding a leadership post in the group could be grounds for the death penalty after it was declared a terrorist organization.
The announcement came as a bomb exploded in a busy intersection in Cairo on Thursday morning, hitting a bus and wounding five people. Though small, the blast raised fears that a campaign of violence by Islamic militants that for months has targeted police and the military could turn to civilians.
The terrorist labeling of the Brotherhood takes to a new level the government’s moves to crush the group, which rode on elections to dominate Egypt’s politics the past three years until the military removed Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in July.
The Brotherhood vowed to “qualitatively” escalate its protests against the military-backed interim government. The group has struggled to bring numbers into the streets under a crackdown that has killed hundreds of its members and put thousands more in prison, including Morsi and other top leaders. There was little sign of any protests Thursday.
The moves — all playing out before the backdrop of increasing violence by al-Qaeda-inspired militants — raise the potential for greater turmoil as the country nears a key Jan. 14-15 referendum on a revised constitution. The government is pushing for passage, while the Brotherhood vows to stop it with protests.
Ahmed Imam, spokesman for the Strong Egypt Party founded by ex-Brotherhood member Abdel-Moneim Abolfotoh, warned that the terrorism label “leaves the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters only one choice, which is violence.”
Both sides are showing “a great deal of stupidity,” he said, blaming the Brotherhood for failing to distance itself from militant violence and the government for closing doors to reconciliation.
Military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, the man who removed Morsi and is now Egypt’s most powerful figure, vowed Thursday that the country will “stand steadfast in confronting terrorism.”
