CAIRO: Police on Thursday arrested 64 members of the Muslim Brotherhood opposition group for organizing protests against the siege of the Gaza Strip, the group said.

The arrests were made during dawn raids in Alexandria, the Suez Canal town of Ismailia and other governorates in the Nile Delta, the Brotherhood website said.

The arrests were made after the Brotherhood organized events across the country showing solidarity with the Palestinian people, particularly those facing the deadly siege in Gaza.

Showing solidarity with besieged Palestinians by means of words and action is not a crime, but a duty that should be upheld by all freedom-loving people, senior Brotherhood member Mohammed Morsi said on the website.

It was not immediately possible to confirm the number of arrests with security officials.

Earlier this week, police arrested 28 Brothers for membership of an illegal organization and possession of banned literature, a security official said.

The Muslim Brotherhood, which calls for an Islamic state in Egypt through peaceful means, is officially banned by the government but fields independent candidates in parliamentary and municipal elections.

The movement won a fifth of seats in the 2005 parliamentary election, which observers said was marred by police intervention and fraud.

Police have arrested dozens of MB members this year and also barred some of their leadership from traveling abroad. -AFP