43 members of Islamic Group held in custody in Egypt

The State Security Court in Egypt on Monday decided to hold in custody some 43 members of the armed extremist Islamic Group (Gamaa al-Islamiyah) for 15 days under charges of being members in an unlicensed group and planning to topple the government.

The Egyptian police announced that the Islamists were arrested last week in al-Minufiyah province, 70 km north of Cairo, suspecting that they had formed seven cells of the organization in the cities of the province.

The Islamic Group has an strong presence in Upper Egypt (Saeed), especially in al-Minya governorate, 250 km south of Cairo.