Egypt's public prosecutor ordered the arrest of former presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul-Fotouh for contacts with the banned Muslim Brotherhood group, state television reported on Wednesday.
One of the most prominent and vocal opposition figures, who has called for a boycott of the presidential elections next month, Aboul-Fotouh was one of the top presidential candidates in the country's first elections after the 2011 uprising, taking about 18 percent of the first round vote.
Egypt banned the Brotherhood in 2013 after the army, led by general-turned-president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, ousted President Mohamed Morsi, a senior member of the group in Egypt.
Aboul-Fotouh quit the Muslim Brotherhood in 2011 to mount an independent bid for the presidency and has distanced himself from the Islamist movement since then.
His deputy in the Strong Egypt Party, Mohamed al-Qassas, was detained last week and is being held pending an investigation, according to the party's Facebook page.
The party condemned the arrest and criticised what it called "the systematic targeting of the opposition politicians" in a post earlier this week.
In January 2017, Aboul-Fotouh called on Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi to step down, condemning his policies and the state the country was in.
In interview with the Anadolu news agency, Fotouh said that Sisi has created a "republic of panic", which has failed to bring about any significant developments in Egypt.
“It is better if Sisi steps down since he has clearly failed to manage the country and steer it in the right direction," he said.
[contf] [contfnew] 
middle east eye
[contfnewc] [contfnewc]
