Egypt detains two in alleged Hamas plot

CAIRO (AFP) - Authorities have arrested two members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood for allegedly plotting attacks with Hamas against US and Israeli interests in Egypt, a security official said on Saturday.

"Abdel Hay al-Faramawi and Mohamed Wahdan were detained on Thursday and accused of plotting with Hamas to build small unmanned aircrafts, load them with explosives and attack targets in Sinai," the official said.

"They were planning to target US and Israeli interests in Egypt," the official said without elaborating.

The two are also accused of supplying financial aid to the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, and coordinating and facilitating a border breach on January 23 which allowed hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into Egypt.

During questioning, Faramawi and Wahdan said that two Palestinians were also involved in the plot, the official said.

However, the Muslim Brotherhood vehemently denied the charges, saying they were a pretext used by the authorities to continue cracking down on the Islamist group.

"The charges are pure lies intended to tarnish the image of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood," Gamal Tageldine, Faramawy's lawyer, said on the Muslim Brotherhood website.

He insisted the charges served to give the authorities more reasons to clampdown on the brotherhood.

In recent months, Egypt has intensified its crackdown against the Islamist group targeting especially the organisation's funding, freezing its assets and arresting prominent businessmen associated with the movement.

On April 17, a military court jailed 25 members of the group for up to 10 years for financing a banned organisation.

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