Egypt orders arrest of Muslim Brotherhood leaders

Egypt’s prosecutor ordered the arrest yesterday of the leaders of ousted president Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, charging them with inciting violence in a clash that saw troops shoot 55 Mursi supporters dead.

A week after the army toppled Egypt’s first democratically elected leader, bloodshed has opened deep fissures in the Arab world’s most populous country, with bitterness at levels unseen in its modern history.

Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad said the announcement of charges against leader Mohamed Badie and several other senior figures was a bid by authorities to break up a vigil by thousands of Morsi supporters demanding his reinstatement.