Among them were the Morsi-era governor of Qalioubiya province, a former lawmaker, and a member of the Guidance Bureau, the top executive body of the Brotherhood made up of dozens of members, many of whom are already in custody, according to state media and the security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press. The Guidance Bureau member, Mahmoud Abu Zeid, is also el-Haddad's father-in-law.
Abdullah el-Haddad, brother of Gehad, wrote on the Brotherhood's official Twitter account that his older brother has been in hiding for over a month and has not been able to see his family and children. He said it was not clear what charges he faces.
Gehad El-Haddad was one of the Brotherhood's prolific spokesmen. After millions took to the streets demanding Morsi's removal and the army ousted him, el-Haddad spoke for the group from the main pro-Morsi sit-in outside a mosque in Nasr City. After the army violently broke up the sit-in on Aug. 14, he went into hiding, but continued to criticize the coup and the heavy-handed crackdown that followed, leaving more than 1,000 dead over several days.
El-Haddad was one of the group's hard-line voices, refusing any negotiations with the new authorities.
In recent days, it had become more difficult reaching el-Haddad, and email was his preferred mode of communication. After the arrest of most of the group's leadership, he increasingly started to also address the Arabic speaking media. In one of his last English tweets, el-Haddad wrote on Sept. 12, "military coup tried 2 quiet chants of hope echoing from (the sit-in) by force, it rippled them to all corners of world."
The crackdown has impacted the group's ability to organize rallies and communicate with its supporters. After weeks of huge protests, Brotherhood and Morsi supporters maintain scattered and small protests in different neighborhoods in Cairo and other cities.
Since Morsi's ouster, violence against security and government buildings in Cairo, the country's south and the restive northern Sinai region has spiked. Authorities blame it on the Brotherhood and Morsi's supporters, saying they are seeking to destabilize the new government. The Brotherhood denies the charges.
The security official said el-Haddad and others arrested with him were detained on charges of inciting violence. The official said documents were seized with el-Haddad and are currently being investigated.
Also Tuesday, in another crackdown on the group, a Cairo court approved an order to freeze the assets of top leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood and a former Islamic militant group.
The decision follows a request made in July by Egypt's chief prosecutor after Morsi's ouster. Prosecutor Hesham Barakat wanted the assets frozen pending investigation into violent incidents in which Brotherhood members and other Islamists were accused.
Egypt's state news agency MENA reported the Cairo Criminal Court on Tuesday approved the request to "temporarily" freeze financial assets of Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie, his deputy Khairat el-Shater, and 12 other leading Islamists. Most of those listed are already in detention, facing trial mostly on charges of inciting violence and murder.
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Associate Press writer Deb Riechmann contributed to this report from Washington