Former Brotherhood Minister Bassem Ouda Arrested In Egypt

A Muslim Brotherhood figure who was supply minister under president Mohamed Morsi was arrested in northern Egypt on Tuesday, reports Al-Ahram Arabic website.

Former minister of supply and internal trade Bassem Ouda was arrested by security forces at a soap factory in the town of Wadi Al-Natroun, in Beheira governorate. He is accused of inciting violence, a charge levied at many senior Brotherhood figures.

Following the ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Morsi in July in the wake of mass protests, authorities launched a crackdown against his supporters.

Hundreds of pro-Morsi protesters have been killed in clashes with security forces, and thousands of Muslim Brotherhood members, including the group’s top leaders, have been detained.

Morsi himself, along with 14 Brotherhood leaders, is being tried for incitement to violence, which could result in the death penalty.

According to the Muslim Brotherhood’s official English website, Ikhwanweb, Bassem Ouda was born in 1970. He has four children and was a professor at Cairo University’s faculty of engineering before becoming a medical engineering and healthcare technology consultant.

Prior to the 2011 revolution, which toppled long-time autocrat Hosni Mubarak, Ouda served as Muslim Brotherhood student supervisor at Cairo University, according to Ikhwanweb. He then took responsibility for the fuel and energy committee in the Muslim Brotherhood Freedom and Justice Party, founded after the popular uprising.

Source : Ahram