Egypt police arrest two senior Muslim Brotherhood leaders

Egyptian authorities detained late Monday two senior leaders of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood (MB) group, state-run Ahram newspaper reported.

The two leaders, Mohammed Ghozlan and Abdurrahman Al-Bar, were holed up in apartments in Giza province's 6th of October district. Both had been handed down death sentences in absentia over violence and murder charges.

The Egyptian government has been cracking down on leaders and supporters of the MB group for anti-government violence that killed hundreds of police and army personnel as well as judges.

According to Ahram, the authorities have been hunting for the two MB leaders for more than two years.

The two were preparing for anti-government demonstrations across Egypt right after announcing Tuesday's court rulings against MB leaders, including ousted president Mohammed Morsi who was removed from office by the army in July 2013 after mass protests against his one-year rule.

Morsi faces a number of charges including inciting violence, conspiring with foreign powers and killing protesters, some of which carry the death penalty.

Earlier in the day, an Egyptian court postponed until June 16 a final verdict on last month's death sentence handed down to Morsi in a jailbreak case in 2011.

The presiding judge of Cairo Criminal Court said he received Tuesday morning the opinion of the Grand Mufti, the country's highest Islamic official who gives the religious judgment of all preliminary death sentences.

On May 16, the same court issued preliminary death sentences against Morsi and 105 other defendants in the case publicly known as the "Wadi al-Natron jailbreak."

Also on Tuesday's session, the court postponed to June 16 a final verdict on death sentences against 16 Muslim Brotherhood leaders, including the Muslim Brotherhood's deputy chief Khairat al-Shater, over espionage charges.

Egyptian authorities designated the MB as a terrorist organization last year.

A number of its leaders, including its supreme guide Mohammed Badie, were sentenced to death. However, the sentences have not been carried out and can be appealed. Endit