Egypt arrests 38 suspects over recent violence

The Egyptian authorities have arrested 38 people suspected of involvement in acts of violence following the August 14 dispersal of two support camps for ousted president Mohamed Morsi, security sources said. At least 12 Muslim Brotherhood members, the group from which Morsi hails, were among those arrested. The latest swoop was conducted in the provinces of Sharqiya, Beni Sueif and Minya, the sources said. The latest wave of arrests came on the eve of Egypt's celebrations marking the October 6 victory over Israel in the fight for the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula in 1973. They face charges of incitement to violence, rioting and involvement in attacks against police stations and churches. Meanwhile, a criminal court in Cairo sentenced five students affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood to five years in prison for assault and damaging private property during recent protests. Egyptian authorities have unleashed a massive crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood leaders and members since the bloody dispersal of two anti-coup protest camps, in which hundreds of demonstrators were killed by security forces. Since then, Egypt's military-backed authorities have rounded up hundreds of the group's senior and mid-ranking members, topped by Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie and deputies Khairat al-Shater and Rashad Bayoumi.