Kuwait detains Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood fugitive 'terror cell'

Kuwait’s Interior Ministry said in a statement on Friday that it had arrested members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood convicted by Egyptian courts on “terrorism” charges.

The Kuwaiti English-language daily The Arab Times reported that eight men had been arrested.

The interior ministry published images of the detained men and said that they had been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison in Egypt.

The statement described them as fugitives who escaped Egypt to Kuwait, where they were arrested and interrogated by Kuwaiti security forces.

It added the detained men had confessed to carrying out “terrorist activities” in Egypt, while The Arab Times said that they were involved in raising money for the Muslim Brotherhood.

Since the 2013 military coup against former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, who was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egyptian courts have sentenced thousands of people to long prison terms or death for alleged membership in the Brotherhood or participation in Brotherhood activities.

Amnesty International has previously condemned the Egyptian trials as “a grotesque parody of justice”.

The Kuwaiti arrests are somewhat surprising because unlike Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait does not list the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation.

The Arab Times quoted unnamed sources as saying that the men are likely to be handed over to Egyptian authorities soon.

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