Security authorities in Alexandria have detained Sheikh Abdel Moneim al-Shahat, a prominent Salafi figure, according to OnIslam.net. The website quoted Salafi sources as saying that the sheikh has been in custody since Sunday.
Security authorities did not confirm the reports.
According to the report, some Salafi sources attributed the arrest to articles al-Shahat recently published in which he accuses Copts together with the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) of spurring violence. But others believe that the primary reason for government concern with underground Salafi movements is their influential preaching activity, even though Alexandria's Salafis do not call for armed violence.
Another possible cause for government concern is al-Shahat’s call for rapprochement with the Muslim Brotherhood after the latter's parliamentary election failure. Al-Shahat, in his fifties, is a well known preacher of Alexandria's Salafi School. He is particularly known for his Salafi perspective on national events relating to Egypt.
Many believe that Salafis lie behind a number of Muslim protests demanding the whereabouts of Kamilia Shehata, a priest's wife thought to be held in church custody for converting to Islam.
Al-Shahat's lessons and lectures had been ordered to a halt several months ago because he addresses the issue of Shehata in some of his writings.
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