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Egyptian authorities arrest more Islamists 

UPI 

The Egyptian authorities have arrested seven more leaders and members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood movement.  

The organization said in a statement on its Web site Wednesday the arrest of its members in northern Egypt was part of an "unjust campaign led by the regime."  

On Tuesday, the authorities arrested five Muslim Brotherhood leaders, and nine others earlier this month, in what analysts say is a fierce security campaign to crush the financial arms of the largest opposition group in the country.  

The crackdown was launched in December after scores of students loyal to the Islamic movement held a military parade near the office of al-Azhar University's president, in what has become known as the "Brotherhood militia."  

In a newspaper interview last week, President Hosni Mubarak said the Muslim Brotherhood constitutes a danger to Egypt's security and their rise could isolate the country from the rest of the world.  

At the end of last month, the police shut down the organization's institutions and detained 25 of its owners and employees. The group says that 234 of its members are currently in detention.  

Although the Muslim Brotherhood was banned in 1954, it enjoys grassroots power and managed to secure 20 percent of the Egyptian National Assembly in the last elections.