The Supreme Leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mahmoud Ezzat, arrested in Cairo

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The incumbent Supreme Leader of the Brotherhood of the Muslim Brotherhood Mahmoud Ezzat, 76, was arrested on Friday August 28 at dawn in a residential suburb of Cairo, the Egyptian Interior Ministry announced.

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With our correspondent in Cairo ,  Alexandre Buccianti

Mahmoud Ezzat had been wanted in vain for seven years, and many were convinced that he had managed to flee Egypt to seek refuge in Turkey or Qatar. However, he was arrested this Friday not far from the headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior.

It was on August 30, 2013, the day of the arrest of Mohamad Baddie, the eighth supreme guide of the brotherhood,  that Mahmoud Ezzat became, de facto, the head of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and abroad.

According to a consensus of the brotherhood, the prerogatives of an imprisoned leader automatically pass to his deputy.

Refugee for a time in Gaza

Sources close to the Interior Ministry indicate that Ezzat had taken refuge in Gaza before returning to Egypt to better manage the brotherhood.

Mahmoud Ezzat is a disciple of Sayed Qotb, the theorist of the seizure of power by force of jihad. He was considered the "hawk" of the guidance office. Tried in absentia, he had been sentenced to death twice for intelligence with the foreigner and a dozen terrorist attacks.

Police experts are currently searching the arrested leader's computers and cellphones for information leading to a major crackdown in Muslim Brotherhood circles.

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• Egypt
• Muslim Brotherhood

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