The  Muslim Brotherhood group has issued a statement in which it criticized the Egyptian regime"s latest crackdown that included arresting 18 MB leaders and members, topped by Dr. Mahmoud Ghozlan, the MB Executive Bureau member.
 
The following is the text of the statement:
 
Muslim Brotherhood Condemns Arresting Ghozlan, 17 Others
 
The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) expresses its full condemnation to the security services crackdown launched on Tuesday March, 13, 2007, and included arresting Dr. Mahmoud Ghozlan, MB executive bureau member, and seventeen others from governorates of Giza, Cairo, Al-Qalyubia, Sharqiya, Gharbiya and Damietta, and it considers this an aggression on rights, justice and freedoms.
 
The Muslim Brotherhood group denounces this repressive method which the regime is using against the group, aiming at marginalizing its political and social roles, and even paralyzing the Egyptian political life to worsen the state of academic, cultural and technological backwardness that Egypt is witnessing; using this dictatorial measure, this regime proves itself to be a failure in successfully handling the down to earth problems facing Egyptian citizens in the political, economic and social aspects, after marginalizing Egypt’s pivotal and strategic role regionally and internationally.
 
This crackdown is seemingly the regime’s direct reaction immediately after the Muslim Brotherhood MPs declared their outright rejection to the constitutional amendments and that they will boycott the People"s Assembly sessions on March 18-19, 2007, during which the these amendments will go to vote before it.
 
It"s worth mentioning that these amendments will be very harmful to the political atmosphere, due to the restrictions that they will impose on private and public freedoms, violations to the principle of citizenship, making president remain in office for ever, establishing corruption and tyranny and setting the scene for rigging people’s will through excluding judges from a complete and real supervision over the general parliamentary elections.
 
The Muslim Brotherhood urges all political and national powers to declare their rejection to and protest at this repressive method that will only complicate matters, specially during the current tensions which Egypt is witnessing.
 
The Muslim Brotherhood confirms that it will remain steadfast to its peaceful and reformist method through constitutional and legal channels (And Allah hath full power and control over His affairs, but most of men know not)
(Those who do wrong will come to know by what a (great) reverse they will be overturned)
 
Mohamed Mahdi Akef
Chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood