Three students charged with planned attack on Muslim Brotherhood HQ in Egypt

Cairo: Egyptian authorities Tuesday ordered jailing for three students pending further questioning on charges of attempting to attack the headquarters of the ruling Muslim Brotherhood, said judicial sources.

Five other suspects were released on a bail of LE500 (Dh333) each pending further investigations on the same charges, added the sources.

The eight denied the charges, claiming that they had happened to be near the building in the area of Moqattam on the outskirts of Cairo when the police arrested them. They accused the police of framing them up.

Policemen told investigators the eight students had been arrested in possession of petrol bombs aimed at setting the building on fire.

Dozens of activists, meanwhile, gathered outside the Moqattam police station, demanding release of all suspects.

In December, the headquarters was the target of an attack by angry protesters after President Mohammad Mursi, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood, called for a referendum on a divisive constitution drafted by an Islamist-led constituent assembly.

Several offices of the Freedom and Justice Party, the Brotherhood’s political arm, have recently been torched across Egypt.

The opposition accuses the Brotherhood of “hijacking” a revolt that toppled Husni Mubarak in February 2011 and brought long-oppressed Islamists to power.