Egyptian authorities said on Friday they had arrested the acting leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mahmoud Ezzat, during a raid on an apartment in Cairo.
The arrest is the latest blow to Egypt's oldest and most organized Islamist movement, which has been crushed in a sweeping crackdown since it was forced from power seven years ago.
Ezzat was an influential former deputy to Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie and was seen as a hardliner within the group. He became acting leader after Badie's arrest in August 2013.
An interior ministry statement said Ezzat had been arrested from an apartment used as a hide-out in Cairo's Fifth Settlement district and was accused of joining and leading a terrorist group and receiving illicit funds.