Egypt remands leading government critic in custody

Egypt's prosecutor Thursday remanded a leading government critic Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh in custody for 15 days over alleged links to exiled members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, officials said.

His arrest Wednesday came after he joined a call for a boycott of a presidential election next month that the incumbent, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, is expected to win easily after most rivals were sidelined or withdrew.

The interior ministry said Abul Fotouh, a former leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood and candidate in the 2012 presidential election, had contacts with the group's members in exile "to sow trouble and instability".

Abul Fotouh was detained shortly after he arrived from London where he gave interviews in which he was critical of the Egyptian government.

A member of his Strong Egypt party said he was transferred to the prison hospital on Thursday, without giving more details.

In response to the arrest, Abul Fotouh's party announced a "temporary cessation" of its activities and condemned what it called an "atmosphere of oppression and tyranny".

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

Abul Fotouh, once a leading member of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, had supported 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.