BBC News Online: World: Middle East

Egyptian Islamists face trial

Human rights activists have condemned the arrests

No date has yet been set for the trial of the men, who were arrested more than a week ago.

They were charged with belonging to "an illegal organisation," court sources said.

Egypt has cracked down on Muslim militants since the events of 11 September, with some 260 suspected militants arrested in the past month.

Vocal opposition

The Muslim Brotherhood, despite technically being a banned organisation, remains one of Egypt's most prominent, and vocal, opposition groups, with 17 members of the organisation hold independent seats in the parliament.

At the time of the men's arrest, the Brotherhood sharply criticised the Egyptian government for its timing of the raids after the attacks in America.

"We deplore this ferocious attack, stressing that it does not serve anybody...we also deplore this attack which breaks the national unity," the group said in a statement at the time of the arrests.

Human rights criticism

The crackdown however has prompted international human rights activists to criticise the country for using the US-led war on terror as an excuse to seek vengeance on its political enemies.

Egypt began the transfer of militant trials to military courts in the early 1990s, claiming an overflow in its civilian courts. However, human rights groups say the reason is more likely that a 'guilty' verdict is more easily achieved in military courts of justice.