Egypt arrests ex-presidential candidate Abul Fotouh: officials

Egyptian police arrested on Wednesday a leading government critic and party leader Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh along with five of his aides, security officials said.

The reason for the arrest of Abul Fotouh, a candidate in the 2012 presidential election, was not immediately clear.

It comes after the arrest of a party deputy leader and a call by Abul Fotouh and several other politicians for a boycott of next month's election.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is expected to easily win the election after most rivals were sidelined or withdrew.

Sisi was elected in 2014, a year after the former army chief ousted his unpopular Islamist predecessor Mohamed Morsi.

Abul Fotouh, once a leading member of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, had supported the mass protests against the Islamist that prompted the military to topple him.

He has since been critical of Sisi who has been accused of clamping down on dissent.