'Jihad in Egypt failing?'

Is the jihad in Egypt "inadequate?" - That was the question posed by members of an al-Qaeda affiliated web forum on Saturday, as Egyptian authorities conducted a further wave of arrests of Muslim Brotherhood members over the weekend, part of a wider crackdown on the Islamist opposition group.

Egypt has spent decades battling Islamists bent on carrying out an Islamic revolution in the country and toppling its secular government.

Under a posting entitled "jihad for the people of Egypt," one member, Abu Isaac, wrote: "There is concern for our brothers in Egypt due to the wave of arrests in Egypt and the displacement of their families...

"The question is, where is the jihad in Egypt heading? Is the jihad in Egypt inadequate?" His question sparked a stormy discussion among Islamist forum members.

On member from Tunisia told the forum said that Egypt was guilty of leading the entire Islamic world away from Islam. "The calamities come from there! Yes! Films, songs and movies, where do they come from? Here in Tunis, (secular) 'artists' go to Egypt to get their fame," he said.

An Egyptian member angrily replied: "Who told you that the Egyptian people spoiled the Islamic peoples? Perhaps you did not hear that Alexandria was a heavily Islamic city where 25 percent of the population is bearded. The Egyptian mosques are full of these days... Egypt has not led the people astray and I do not want accusations from you in Tunisia, which forbade the veil."

Meanwhile, the Egyptian state prosecutor has charged 18 people of being members of the Muslim Brotherhood over the weekend, following arrests in east Cairo.

The website of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt quoted a lawyer as saying: "The decision to arrest citizens was made before presenting them to prosecutors and before an investigation was made. This affirms the existence of a premeditate plot (by the Egyptian authorities)."