Egypt court orders Morsi held over Hamas ties: MENA

CAIRO: An Egyptian court Friday ordered the detention of ousted president Mohamed Morsi for questioning over alleged ties with Palestinian Hamas in prison breaks and attacks on police, state media reported Friday.

The official MENA news agency said the detention was ordered for a renewable 15-day period.

Normally, such detentions are served in prison. But authorities have not yet confirmed whether Morsi, who has been held by the military since it pushed him aside on July 3, will be moved to a specific jail.

The announcement came as Morsi's supporters and his army-backed opponents prepared for rival rallies on Friday amid fears of a fresh outbreak of the violence that has convulsed Egypt since his overthrow.

Morsi will be quizzed on whether he collaborated with Gaza's Hamas movement in attacks on police stations and prison breaks in early 2011.

Following Morsi's ouster, a senior military official had told AFP he was held by the army and might face charges by prosecutors over these allegations.

The alleged crimes are being investigated by a Cairo court that was tasked to determine how inmates broke out of a prison late January 2011, after accusations Morsi's group sought the help of the Hamas rulers of Gaza.

The court issued a gag order this week on proceedings in the case.

The military has avoided publicly identifying where it is holding Morsi, for fear of attracting protests by his loyalists.

Gehad El-Haddad, a spokesman for Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood denounced the detention order, saying Mubarak's regime was "signalling 'we're back in full force.'"

Hamas, too, denounced the detention.

"Hamas condemns this move since it is based on the premise that the Hamas movement is hostile," spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP in Gaza.

"This is a dangerous development, which confirms that the current powers in Egypt are giving up on national causes and even using these issues to deal with other parties -- first among them the Palestinian cause."

On June 23, an Egyptian court had said Hamas facilitated the escape of prisoners during the tumultuous 18-day uprising that forced out Mubarak.

At the time, Morsi, then a senior Brotherhood leader, told a television station Egyptians had helped the prisoners escape. (AFP)