Egypt police detain 60 Brotherhood members

Cairo: Egyptian police detained about 60 members of the Muslim Brotherhood on Thursday, officials said.

Early on Thursday, authorities raided the homes of the members in the Nile Delta provinces of Sharkia and Gharbia, the Mediterranean city of Alexandria and the Suez Canal town of Ismailia, police and Brotherhood sources said.

Police sources said the number held was 60 and could rise, but the Brotherhood website named 47.

Several of the detained members were involved in organising protests demanding the government open the Egyptian border with Gaza for goods and people.

The Egyptian government cooperates with the Israeli blockade of Gaza, in line with an agreement signed in 2005.