Abdel Kareem Nabil SuleimanA 22-year-old Egyptian student and blogger named Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman was detained by State Security agents in Alexandria, Egypt, yesterday.  His arrest is believed to be motivated by his writings, which are critical of Islam and the Egyptian Government.

His detention was the latest crackdown on political opposition by Egyptian authorities following arrests and beatings at street protests earlier this year, despite calls from Egypt's U.S. ally for political reform.

'The accusations directed against him are that he published opinions aimed at disturbing public order, insulted the head of state and defamed Islam,' said Sally Sami, programme officer at the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRInfo), which is representing him.

'It is becoming more and more obvious that the government is not keen to reform or allow true democracy where differing opinions can be voiced.'

The security forces did not specify which of his writings led to the arrest.

Mr Suleiman was until recently a student at al-Azhar University, one of the country’s top universities, but he was expelled earlier this year.

Suleiman has criticised al-Azhar's dominance in religious thought and said Muslim clerics were partly responsible for sectarian strife that followed a knife attack on Christian worshippers in Alexandria in April, according to Gamal Eid, executive director of HRInfo.

Egypt has arrested several bloggers, leading Reporters Without Borders to add it to the list of worst suppressors of internet freedom.

h/t: Big News Network.com – Breaking Religious News

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