Prosecutor orders ousted Egypt President Morsi's arrest over Hamas links

An arrest order has been issued for ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi over suspected links to Hamas. State media reports the Muslim Brotherhood leader has already been questioned and confronted with the evidence.

Morsi has been detained for 15 days and will be subjected to questioning over suspicions Hamas helped orchestrate his escape from prison in 2011, reported Reuters, citing Mena state agency. The toppled leader has allegedly already been "confronted with the evidence." 

The accusations set against Morsi also include killing officers and prisoners and kidnapping soldiers.

During the uprisings that overthrew former President Hosni Mubarak two years ago there were a number of attacks on police stations that led to the escape of Islamists and political inmates.

The Muslim Brotherhood has condemned accusations against Morsi’s as "ridiculous" and said the detention signalled a “return to the Mubarak regime.” 

Earlier, the UN urged the Egyptian military to free Morsi along with other Brotherhood leaders “without delay.” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls “on the interim authorities to ensure law and order along with guaranteeing the safety and security of all Egyptians.”

Morsi has been held in an unknown location since he was removed from office on July 3 by the military.

So a court in #Egypt miraculously convened, deliberated & charged #Morsy by 9am on a weekend w/ every charge of #Jan25 Rev from #Mubarak PoV

— Gehad El-Haddad (@gelhaddad) July 26, 2013

Muslim Brotherhood spokesperson Mona Al Qazzaz told RT that allegations against Mohamed Morsi are politically motivated and a violation of human rights.

“The allegations are very clearly politically motivated. President Morsi has been kidnapped for three weeks now. No one knows why, and where, and who is kidnapping him but obviously it’s a violation of his human rights. And after detaining him for three weeks, they fabricated allegations against him and it’s a very clear job done by a prosecutor who was actually initially appointed by Mubarak. He is the president of the country and Egypt is essential for a peace process in the Middle East. So Egypt has been playing a mediatory role between the different Palestinian parties - between Palestine and Israel, and between the different players in the political scene in the Middle East. So we find these allegations actually amusing and obviously politically motivated in violation of all human rights.”

This comes as Egypt is preparing for another day of violent protests as Morsi’s followers and the military opposition have both planned mass rallies.

The two groups are at loggerheads over the future of the Arab world’s most populous country. A military official told Reuters that the army has given the Muslim Brotherhood until Saturday to join the so-called “road map” to new elections.

The Brotherhood fears a military led crackdown on the political party that won the Egyptian elections last summer.

“We are continuing our protests on the streets. In fact we believe that more people will realize what this regime really represents - a return of the old state of Mubarak, with brute force," Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad said.

In some of the worst violence since the unrest began in Egypt, 50 Morsi supporters were gunned down at a Cairo barracks on July 8 by security forces.