Muslim Brotherhood arrests in Egypt

The biggest Islamic group in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood, has accused the government of trying to stop it from playing a part in the country's upcoming elections.

Fifteen members of the Brotherhood have been arrested in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria over the past few days, in what one of the group's leadership called an attempt to scare them.

A police official said the detained members were to be tried for joining an illegal organisation.

The Muslim Brotherhood has been outlawed by the Egyptian government, which accuses the group of encouraging violence in order to establish an Islamic state.

The organisation says it is seeking such a state through peaceful means. The group's spokesman said that about two hundred of its activists had been arrested in the past three months.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service