Egypt arrests senior Muslim Brotherhood figure

Egyptian security forces have arrested Hassan Malik, a leader of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, security officials said, part of a sustained crackdown on Islamists.

“He was arrested in Cairo on charges of funding a group that promotes violence,” said one of the officials.

Malik, a businessman, was one of the few prominent Brotherhood members to escape the toughest crackdown on Islamists in Egypt’s modern history.

Security forces have killed hundreds of Islamists and arrested thousands of others since the army toppled President Mohammad Mursi of the Brotherhood in 2013 after mass protests against his rule.

President Abdelfattah al-Sisi has branded the Brotherhood a terrorist group and says it poses an existential threat to Egypt, an allegation it denies.

A Sinai-based militant group that supports Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has killed hundreds of soldiers and police since Mursi was ousted.