CAIRO Ñ Egypt has launched a crackdown on suspected activists of the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic insurgents.

Islamic sources in Cairo and London said authorities have arrested and prosecuted nearly 100 Islamic fundamentalists over the last six weeks. They said the arrests took place mostly in Cairo and Alexandria.

About 25 of the arrests were those of suspected Brotherhood members. The group is banned in Egypt but operates through front groups in both parliament and in leading trade unions.

Another 75 fundamentalists are said to be suspected insurgents connected to the Jihad group. Jihad is aligned with Saudi billionaire fugitive Osama Bin Laden and has been held responsible for a series of attacks around Egypt over the last decade.

The London-based Islamic Guidance Monitor said the Egyptian arrests of suspected Jihad members are connected to the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in east Africa. Several Bin Laden aides were recently convicted in a New York court and one of the defendants turned state witness and provided details of Bin Laden satellite groups around the Arab world.

Egyptian authorities arrested several businessmen during its sweep. They included nationals from Azerbaijan and the Russian republic of Dagestan.

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