Activists detained for spray-painting walls

Cairo: Egyptian security detained two members of a protest group yesterday after they spray-painted walls in Cairo to support a potential presidential challenger to Hosni Mubarak, members of the group told Reuters.

Ahmad Maher, 29, and Amr Ali, 25, both members of Sixth of April Youth, were detained after daubing walls in Cairo with slogans backing political change and a possible presidential run by former UN nuclear agency head Mohammad Al Baradei.

Al Baradei arrival

Al Baradei, due to arrive in Cairo tomorrow, has stirred Egypt's calcified politics by saying he might be interested in running in 2011. But his terms for running include changes to the constitution which analysts say are unlikely to be met.

Mubarak, 81 and in power for almost three decades, has not said if he will run in 2011. But many Egyptians believe that, if he does not, he will seek to hand power to his politician son, Jamal, 46. Both father and son deny such plans.

"Security agents appeared as soon as Ahmad and Amr had finished spraying messages supporting Al Baradei and change in Egypt," Sixth of April Youth member Omar Al Hadi said.

Interior Ministry officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

Activists are periodically detained and harassed, rights groups say.