Egyptian police blocked an opposition convoy carrying medical supplies to the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip and detained at least 30 activists on Monday, security officials said. Police surrounded campaigners outside the Journalists' Syndicate offices in Cairo, where the convoy was due to leave from, and rounded up 25 opposition members, a security official said, according to AFP.
They also arrested five opposition members, including the head of the suspended Labour Party Magdi Hussein, who had travelled on their own to Rafah, another official said.
The campaigners, including judges, independent MPs, members of the main opposition Muslim Brotherhood and other parties, want to protest the continued closure of the Rafah crossing by Israel and Egypt.
Police have set up checkpoints on the road between Ismailiya and the town of El-Arish in northern Sinai, about 45 kilometres from Rafah, and were only allowing residents to enter, the official said.
© 2008 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
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