Egyptian security forces detained Ali Mohamed Farag, a former lawmaker for the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), in the canal city of Port Said on Thursday.

According to security sources, Farag, the FJP Secretary-General in the city of Matariya north of Cairo, was arrested in an apartment in Matariya on charges of "inciting violence and joining an armed gang."

Egyptian authorities have unleashed a massive crackdown on Brotherhood leaders since the bloody dispersal last month of two protest camps, in which hundreds of supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi – deposed by Egypt's powerful military on July 3 – were killed by security forces.

Since then, Egypt's military-backed authorities have rounded up hundreds of the Brotherhood's senior and mid-ranking members, topped by group leader Mohamed Badie and deputies Khairat al-Shater and Rashad Bayoumi.

PHOTO CAPTION

Supporters of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi chant slogans during a demonstration in Dalga Village, in Upper Egypt, Friday, Aug. 30, 2013.

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