Prominent Egyptian activist detained

Egyptian police today arrested prominent activist and rights lawyer Azza Soliman after banning her from travel, a relative and a security official said.
Soliman, who founded the Center for Egyptian Women's Legal Assistance, was arrested at home and taken for questioning, a relative who requested anonymity said.
A security official confirmed the arrest.
The reason for her arrest was not immediately clear but activists said it may be related to an ongoing probe into civil society groups that has sparked alarm from the United Nations and rights groups.
Amnesty International said in a statement that Soliman's arrest was a "clear sign that Egyptian authorities are intensifying the crackdown on human rights activists."

The move came months after an Egyptian court froze the assets of five other human rights defenders and three non-governmental organisations for allegedly receiving illicit foreign funds.

"This is a new development," said lawyer Gamal Eid, one of the activists whose assets were frozen.
"I think they are escalating, step by step," he said, referring to Soliman's arrest.
Soliman was banned from travel last month.
She also learned that her bank account had been frozen and that she was included in the investigation into the civil society groups, Eid said.
The United Nations had said it was "extremely concerned" by the September decision to freeze the assets of the activists and NGOs, which stoked fears of an intensified crackdown on civil society.

The investigation, which goes back to 2011, caused a diplomatic rift between Washington and Cairo after police closed down several foreign NGOs and sought to arrest their American staff.
In 2014, a court sentenced 43 Egyptians and foreigners in the case to up to five years in prison.