Police on Sunday arrested three businessmen and two owners of publishing and printing houses affiliated with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group, police and a member of the group said.
A police official said along with arresting the five, authorities confiscated materials and publications related to the Brotherhood. The police official spoke on customary condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Abdel Gelil el-Sharnoubi, editor of the Brotherhood's Web site, said the dawn raids included sealing off four Islamic printing and publishing houses and book stores and arresting Aktham el-Taweel, the owner of el-Bashair publishing house, and Ahmed Ashraf, director of the Islamic House for Publication and Distribution.
Mohammed Hafiz, the owner of al-Hayat pharmaceutical company; Ahmed Shousha, who owns a construction company; and Hassan Malik, owner of an import and export company, also were arrested. Authorities also detained about 20 of Malik's employees, el-Sharnoubi said. He expected that some of the 20 workers would be released after police conducted their initial investigation because they are not affiliated with the group.
