According to France24, Egyptian authorities have arrested 20 Muslim Brotherhood opposition members. The Muslim Brotherhood is the largest and most organized political group in the country. “They are accused of having held a political meeting at the home of one of them, which is punishable under the emergency laws which have been in effect in Egypt since 1981,” an official told AFP. The members said the meeting was a protest against the limitation imposed by Israel on the access to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, a sacred site to both Muslims and Jews. The Muslim Brotherhood confirmed the arrest on its website, saying police raided the homes of nine of those arrested while they were at a meeting. The group is officially banned, but Muslim Brotherhood is allowed to operate openly by the authorities and has a working office in Cairo. In 2005, Muslim Brotherhood won 88 seats out of 454 in parliamentary elections.
