Egyptian authorities warn they will ‘deal firmly with those who break the law’

Egypt’s Ministry of Interior is raising the levels of the state of emergency in public and government areas, Al Arabiya’s correspondent reported citing a source.

The country’s Minister of Interior has also given direct instructions to “deal firmly with those who break the law.”

According to the source, Egyptian security services have arrested several members of the Muslim Brotherhood who planned to disrupt the economy and the stock market through demonstrations.

“The Muslim Brotherhood members were also working to withdraw large amounts of hard currency,” the source said.

Security forces have stepped up their presence in main squares across major cities in recent days.

Images of demonstrators gathering at Cairo’s Tahrir Square first surfaced on Friday night, followed by small protests in other Egyptian cities.

However, there has been no repeat of the large scale uprising in 2011, which ousted former President Hosni Mubarak.