Muslim Brotherhood asked for law giving arrest powers to military, says source

The Muslim Brotherhood is behind the Shura Council-approved law granting the Armed Forces judiciary powers to arrest and try civilians, a Brotherhood source said Monday.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said leaders from the Brotherhood's supreme guidance bureau called on Brotherhood-affiliated ministers to propose the draft law to the Cabinet. The law guarantees the deployment of the Armed Forces until after the parliamentary elections.


At an emergency meeting at the group's headquarters in Moqattam, some Brotherhood members expressed reservations about the proposal, while others said this was the only solution to ongoing armed confrontations in the street, and to keeping Morsy in the president's office.

The draft law allows Morsy to deploy the Armed Forces to quell riots and violence, the source said, adding that deployment can only happen by presidential decree.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm