Egypt denies hit squads

The Egyptian embassy in London has denied a report in yesterday's Independent that the Egyptian government has sent up to 100 men from its security service to hunt down its opponents in Britain, writes Michael Sheridan.

"The Egyptian embassy denies categorically the news report," an official statement said. "This has never been the case nor is it Egyptian policy." A Foreign Office spokesman said the report was without foundation.

The Independent quoted a reliable military source in Cairo as saying that the agents began arriving in London last month and their mission was to hunt down Islamic fundamentalists. nCairo (Reuter) - Seven Muslim Brotherhood and pro-Islamist candidates withdrew from Egypt's parliamentary elections yesterday, accusing supporters of the ruling party of beating election agents and vote-rigging. The run-off voting was to decide 307 seats after a first round last week in which the ruling National Democratic Party won 124 of 137 seats.