Egypt arrests Al-Jazeera TV's 4-member crew

Journalists picked up with member of recently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood

CAIRO — Egypt’s Interior Ministry says security forces have arrested journalists working for the Qatari-based Al-Jazeera network over alleged links to the Muslim Brotherhood, the leading Islamist group that was last week branded as a “terrorist” organization.

The network said Monday that four of its Cairo team — correspondent Peter Greste, producers Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, and cameraman Mohamed Fawzy — are in custody since Sunday night.

Al-Jazeera says it’s demanding their immediate release.

The ministry says only two Al-Jazeera staff were arrested, an Australian journalist and a second person, a Brotherhood member. It says they were meeting at a five-star Cairo hotel that is used to “spread rumors harming national security.”

Egypt’s military-backed government has long accused Al-Jazeera of bias because Qatar is perceived to have supported the Brotherhood.