Egypt’s interm military government arrested Mohamed Badie, the Muslim Brotherhood’s spiritual leader, in an apartment in Cairo’s Nasr City on Tuesday.
Ahmed Arif, Muslim Brotherhood spokesman, stated that while Badie was one of the top Brotherhood figures, his arrest "is not the end of the group, which will remain in the hearts of millions of Egyptians," CNN writes. Mahmoud Ezzat, Badie’s deputy, has been named supreme guide in the meantime.
Despite the Brotherhood’s statement, Badie’s arrest raises new fears of increased violence between Egypt’s military government and the Muslim Brotherhood backed Mohammed Morsi supporters, Agence France Presse reports. More than 900 soldiers, civilians, and Morsi supporters alike died last week in a series of clashes between the security forces and the Brotherhood, and the arrest of a top figure such as Badie cannot help to ease the tensions.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Badie will stand trial later this month for complicity in the murder of eight protestors in June outside Brotherhood headquarters in Cairo.