Black Bloc group denies arrest of member carrying 'Israeli plot'

Black Bloc movement has emerged in Egypt during recent 'Jan 25' anniversary demonstrations Egypt's Black Bloc group has denied that one of its members has been arrested with an "Israeli plot" to target key sites across the country, asserting that the person detained has nothing to do with the group .
A statement released on the group's official Facebook page on Thursday evening said that "those who were arrested in yesterday events are political activists and don’t belong to Black Bloc."
The statement continued, "from the rebels to the Interior Ministry, all the elements that have been arrested as Black Bloc members are just political activists, and do not belong to us. As for the real organisation, neither your ministry nor your president or even your movement can touch one of them. Not everyone wearing a black mask is a Black Bloc member," the statement concluded.
Earlier on Thursday, the Egyptian General Prosecution announced that "an Israeli plot targeting petroleum companies and vital sites alongside a map marking the locations and instructions on torching them" was found in possession of a Black Bloc group member being questioned.
A statement issued by the General Prosecution said that the investigation into the "Israeli plot" is being headed by Judge Hisham el-Karmouti. The suspect is facing a number of charges, "including membership of an illegal group, vandalism and intentionally causing damage to public and private properties."
The prosecution said the suspect "confessed to being a member of the Black Bloc group and that he has a secret code." The suspect was apprehended in a block of flats with the help of its porter as the former was trying to enter one of the empty flats, the statement said. He was wearing "the distinctive attire of Black Bloc members."
Another man was apprehended in Mahalla "after he asked the owner of a clothes factory to make him a quantity of masks and attire synonymous with Black Bloc group." The factory owner reported him to the police. The suspect is being questioned by local prosecutors in Delta city.
"Five university students have come forward to testify against this individual. According to their testimonies, he asked them to join the Black Bloc group and has been trying to recruit people, telling them to wear the group's distinctive attire and inciting them to take to the city squares of Cairo."
Egypt's Prosecutor General, Judge Talaat Abdallah, thanked "honest citizens" who reported the suspects and handed them in to the relevant authorities. He also called on the public to "help the police apprehend outlaws and bring them to justice."
Commenting on the current turbulence racking the country, Interior Ministry spokesperson Major General Osama Ismail told the press: "Security agencies have been facing a number of challenges and have worked in very difficult and critical circumstances which Egypt has never experienced before due to political events and the effects they have on security conditions."
Defending the much-criticised police in the country, Ismail said, "the police force has become purely patriotic and now belongs to the people, working in accordance with an open and clear strategy that is founded on a deeply-rooted doctrine which is fully on the public's side and works to maintain their safety; a strategy whose framework is the total commitment to the law and human rights principles."
Ismail said the ministry respects the right to protest and supports non-violence. He lauded the charter produced by al-Azhar and called on political and revolutionary forces "which have eschewed all forms of violence" to "perform their patriotic duty" by "banding together" to ensure that all protests are non-violent in nature.
"The ministry is careful to set itself apart from the political equation," Ismail said, stressing the police force's duty to secure peaceful gatherings as well as the public's safety and the protection of public and private properties.
"The current political scene has cast unprecedented shadows and burdens on the state of security in the country," the spokesperson said, adding that "the police force has marshalled all its energies and capabilities to tackle the situations and interactions which have accompanied demonstrations and protests in order to secure the public's safety."
He added: "All ranks of the police are proud of and cherish their vocation of preserving the security of the public, the nation and its institution. They give their lives out of faith, dedication and sacrifice and are aware that the great Egyptian public appreciates their efforts and sacrifices and expects yet more of them for the country's security and stability. They pledge before God and the nation to perform their noble duty regardless of the challenges they may face."