REPORT: Egypt to freeze assets of 14 Brotherhood, Islamist leaders

Egypt's public prosecutor ordered on Sunday that the assets of 14 Muslim Brotherhood leaders, including its head Mohamed Badie, be frozen, judicial sources said.     

Also included in the measure were his deputy, Khairat El-Shater, and the deputy head of the Brotherhood's political party, Essam El-Erian, the sources added.                     

On another note, Egypt's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said no group would be barred from participating in politics.                       

In a speech, he also defended the army's decision to remove Mohamed Morsi from power, saying the deposed president had lost legitimacy because of mass demonstrations against him.             

"Every political force without exception and without exclusion must realize that an opportunity is available for everyone in political life and no ideological movement is prevented from participating."              

Earlier on Sunday, leading Egyptian reform advocate Mohammed ElBaradei was sworn-in as the country's interim vice president.                                                                        

ElBaradei was sworn-in Sunday by interim President Adly Mansour, as Egypt's new leadership pushes ahead with a transition following the military's ouster of President Mohammed Morsi nearly two weeks ago.                                                

This as, Nabil Fahmy, a former Egyptian ambassador to the United States, accepted the post of foreign minister in the interim government being put in place after the removal of president Mohamed Morsi earlier this month.                                 

In the same context, liberal economist Ahmed Galal said he had agreed to become Egypt's finance minister in the state's army-backed interim government.                                                               
For his part, leftist politician Godah Abdel Khalek said he declined an offer to return to the post of minister of supply in Egypt's interim government, citing personal reasons.                                                    
On another note, Egypt announced a criminal investigation against deposed Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, with prosecutors saying they were examining complaints of spying, inciting violence and ruining the economy.                                                                      

The public prosecutor's office said in a statement it had received complaints against Morsi, eight other named Islamist figures including the Brotherhood's leader, Mohamed Badie, and others it did not identify.                                                          

Badie and several other Brotherhood officials already face charges for inciting violence that were announced earlier this week, but few of them have been arrested.                                                                        

Separately, the US State Department said Deputy Secretary of State William Burns will visit Egypt this week to meet members of the interim government, civil society and the business community.                             

"In all these meetings, he will underscore U.S. support for the Egyptian people, an end to all violence, and a transition leading to an inclusive, democratically elected civilian government," the department said in a brief statement.             

The State Department, which said Burns would visit Cairo from Sunday to Tuesday, did not say whether he would meet with the Egyptian military, which toppled President Mohamed Morsi, or with Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood supporters.                   

On Saturday night, thousands of supporters of ousted President Morsi continued to protest in a square near the Rabaa al-Adawiya Mosque in eastern Cairo, demanding his release from detention and his reinstatement as president.                                                               

Morsi's supporters, including his Islamist allies, remain steadfast in their rejection of the military coup that toppled him nearly two weeks ago after millions took to the street to demand his removal.                                                       

The new army-backed administration of interim President Adly Mansour has forged ahead with a swift timetable to amend the now suspended constitution, drafted under Morsi, and to hold parliamentary and presidential elections by early next year.                                                 

Morsi was Egypt's first freely elected president, succeeding long-time autocrat Hosni Mubarak who himself was toppled in 2011.   


REUTERS/AP

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