Egyptian police arrested four leaders of the banned Muslim Brotherhood on Friday and seized scores of other members in this Islamic group as demonstrators gathered in several cities to protest arrests earlier in the week. One protester died of a heart attack.
According to The AP, Abdel Moneim Mahmoud, a senior Brotherhood member, said police arrested Essam el-Erian, one of the organization's most prominent members, and three other leaders during raids on several homes in Cairo.
Police also detained more than 130 Brotherhood members in Cairo and outside the capital, said Abdel-Galil el-Sharnoubi, editor of the group's Web site.
Thousands of group supporters staged protests calling for political reforms and demanding the release of hundreds of Brotherhood members who were arrested earlier this week.
El-Sharnoubi said one protester, Tarek Taha Mahdi Ghannam, 40, died inside a mosque at Talkha, near the Nile Delta city of Mansoura, after police fired tear gas at demonstrators. Police officials said Ghannam died of a heart attack during the protest.
