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 The activists were held in the Nile Delta province of Sharkiya on
suspicion of "promoting the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood
group, distributing its leaflets, and inciting violence against the
army and police," the state news agency said.
The government declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group on
Wednesday in response to a suicide attack a day earlier that killed
16 in the Nile Delta, accusing the group of carrying out the
bombing. The Brotherhood condemned the attack.
Interior Ministry spokesman Hani Abdel Latif told state TV on
Thursday that anyone taking part in Brotherhood protests would be
jailed for five years. "The sentence could be death for those who
lead this organization," he added.
Earlier in the day a bomb explosion in Cairo wounded five people,
and Latif said a second similar home-made device was found nearby
and dismantled.
The government did not provide evidence to back up the charge that
the Brotherhood had staged the Nile Delta attack in Mansoura, north
of Cairo, which was claimed by the Sinai-based radical Islamist
group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis.
Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis has taken responsibility for several other
major bombings, including a failed attempt to kill the interior
minister in September.
The Brotherhood's Islamist allies responded defiantly to the cabinet
decision announced late on Wednesday, vowing to continue the
protests it has staged against the army since the overthrow of
President Mohamed Mursi.
"The putchists are a terrorist organization. The Brotherhood are
peaceful patriots," they said in a statement.
DRIVEN UNDERGROUND
Wednesday's move marked an escalation in the government's campaign
to suppress the Islamist movement that propelled Mursi to the
presidency 18 months ago but has been driven underground since the
army toppled him in July after big protests against him.
In the weeks after Mursi's removal, the security forces killed
hundreds of his supporters while dispersing their protest camps, and
arrested thousands more including most of the Brotherhood's top
leadership.
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Though the Brotherhood has been outlawed for most of its existence,
this is the first time it has been formally listed as a terrorist
organization.
State prosecutors last week ordered Mursi and others to stand trial
on charges including terrorism for which they could be executed. A
Brotherhood activist, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of
arrest, said the new decision seemed aimed at deterring further
protests against the government.
The cabinet said terrorism charges could be applied to anyone who
finances or promotes the group "verbally and in writing".
Publication of the Brotherhood's newspaper, Freedom and Justice, was
halted in response to the decision.
"We will continue with the protests. Peaceful action is the hope,"
said the activist from Alexandria.
The National Alliance to Support Legitimacy, the pro-Mursi
coalition, called for a "week of anger" and the Freedom and Justice
Party (FJP), the political arm of the Brotherhood, called for
protests on Friday after the cabinet's move.
The public prosecutor's office, which is investigating the Mansoura
bombing, said there would be no comment until its investigation was
complete.
Bombings and shootings targeting the security forces have become
commonplace, with around 350 soldiers and policemen killed. The state has
declared itself in "a war on terror."
Most of the attacks have been in the Sinai Peninsula, though the
Mansoura attack suggested the violence is spreading to the more
heavily populated areas of the Nile Valley and Delta.
The government has said violence will not derail its political
transition plan. The next step is a mid-January referendum on a new
constitution.
(Editing by John Stonestreet)
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