Egyptian police detained more than 230 members and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood before and during an attempt to protest outside parliament in favour of political reform, the Brotherhood leader said on Monday. The detainees include 84 Brotherhood leaders taken from their homes on Sunday morning and more than 150 demonstrators taken from the streets later in the day, Mohamed Mahdi Akef said in a statement.
An interior ministry spokesman said police detained 50 people altogether in connection with the protests. Police sources said 12 of those 50 - a photographer, four journalists and seven Brotherhood members - had since been released.
Thousands of police armed with sticks and shields were deployed in central Cairo from early Sunday and prevented most of the Brotherhood supporters from reaching parliament.
But pockets of up to several hundred protested at other sites in the Cairo area, calling for an end to emergency laws and political and constitutional reforms.
In recent months, the authorities have allowed small public demonstrations by the Enough Movement, which wants to prevent President Hosni Mubarak from seeking a fifth six-year term or arranging a transfer of power to his son Gamal.
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