Suspected Egyptian militants arrested

The Egyptian security forces say they have arrested forty-two suspected members of Gamaat al-Islamiya during police raids in three provinces in the north of the country.

The suspects are followers of the Islamist leader, Munir Abdel Hafez, who was killed in a police raid two weeks.

Correspondents say these latest arrests appear to be part of an offensive promised by the Egyptian security services against Gamaat al-Islamiya in the wake of the Islamist attack in Luxor which killed fifty-eight tourists and four Egyptians.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service