Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has appointed Mahmoud Ezzat as its temporary new leader, hours after its supreme leader was arrested by police in Cairo.

 

　　Mohamed Badie has reportedly been arrested in an apartment in the eastern Cairo district of Nasr City.

 

　　That's where supporters of former President Mohammed Morsi held a six-week sit-in protest that was cleared by security forces in a crackdown last Wednesday.

 

　　Egyptian government officials say Badie and his deputy, Khairat el-Shater, who is also under custody, will go on trial later this month.

 

　　The two are accused of crimes in connection with the killing of 8 protesters outside the Islamist group's Cairo headquarters in June.

 

　　Badie's arrest is being viewed as a serious blow to the Muslim Brotherhood at a time when the interim authorities are cracking down on its leaders and mid-ranking officials.

 

　　Word of his arrest is being welcomed by some on the streets of Cairo.

 

　　"Thank God that Mohammed Badie has been arrested, and the government should take all the necessary measures for the Muslim Brotherhood to stop. It is a sin to have a son up to this age and raise him and at the end he gets killed in cold blood."

 

　　Badie's arrest comes as the courts in Cairo decide whether former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will go free later this week.

 

　　Mubarak's lawyer is arguing to try to have his client released from custody, after the courts dropped another charge against him.

 

　　Mubarak is still awaiting a re-trial in connection with the killing of protesters which eventually led to his ouster.