CAIRO – The Muslim Brotherhood has named an interim leader to head the group after its supreme guide was arrested Tuesday, the website of its political party said. “Mahmoud Ezzat, deputy leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, will assume the role of supreme guide of the group on a temporary basis after the security forces of the bloody military coup arrested supreme guide Mohamed Badie,” the Freedom and Justice Party website said. Badie is to be held for 15 days on allegations of having incited the murder of protesters, Egyptian state television reported. He had been in hiding since July 10 when a warrant was issued for his arrest over accusations he incited the deaths of protesters outside the Brotherhood's Cairo headquarters in late June. Egypt's authorities have this month rounded up dozens of senior Brotherhood leaders. Meanwhile, Mohamed ElBaradei, Egypt's former vice president, will be sued in court for a “betrayal of trust” over his decision to quit the army-backed government in protest at its bloody crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood. The case, brought by an Egyptian law professor, will be heard in a Cairo court on Sept. 19, judicial sources said on Tuesday. ElBaradei, former head of the UN nuclear agency and co-leader of the secular National Salvation Front, was the most prominent liberal to endorse the military's overthrow of Morsi on Aug. 3 following mass protests. The case was filed by Sayyed Ateeq, a law professor at Helwan University. “I raised a case against Dr. ElBaradei. He was appointed in his capacity as a representative of the NSF and the majority of the people who signed the Tamarod declaration,” he told Reuters, referring to the coalition that led the anti-Morsi protests. “Dr. ElBaradei was entrusted with this position and he had a duty to go back to those who entrusted him and ask to resign.” Ateeq said that, if found guilty, ElBaradei could face a three year jail sentence. But a judicial source said the maximum sentence that could be imposed in a case of this kind was a fine and a suspended jail term. ElBaradei left Egypt earlier this week for Europe and is unlikely to attend any hearing in this case. The developments came as a US Senate aide said the Obama administration has halted military aid to Egypt. David Carle, an aide to Sen. Patrick Leahy, said the Senate Appropriations panel for foreign relations has been informed the “transfer of military aid was stopped.” He said the suspension reflects the administration's “current practice, not necessarily official policy.” He said there was no indication how long military assistance will be held up. – Agencies
