CAIRO: Authorities said on Sunday they had arrested 12 people embracing conservative Sunni Muslim ideas, a security source told AFP.

The 12 Salafists were detained during the last two weeks in different provinces of Egypt. They did not belong to one particular group, the source said.

The independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm reported on Sunday that authorities had launched a massive search for Salafists in Egypt fearing the spread of their ideas which include the application of Islamic law.

It said the 12 would go to a prison where 330 other Salafists were already being held.

In July, the Egyptian authorities said they arrested an undisclosed number of Arab nationals belonging to an extremist Islamist group with jihadi tendencies following threats by groups believed to have links with Al-Qaeda.