CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt confirmed on Sunday that it had arrested an Al Jazeera news producer, accusing him of “provoking sedition” on behalf of the Qatar-based broadcaster that it considers a mouthpiece of the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

Judicial sources said Mahmoud Hussain, who was detained on Friday, was being held on charges of disturbing public security and spreading false news.

The Interior Ministry said in a statement that Al Jazeera officials “had ordered some individuals collaborating with the channel inside the country to continue implementing its media plan of provoking sedition, incitement against the state, and spreading chaos through broadcasting false news”.

It identified Hussain as a person implementing that plan for the channel which is not allowed to operate inside Egypt.

Al Jazeera issued a statement later on Sunday denying the “fabricated charges” brought against Hussain and demanding his immediate release, adding that he was in Egypt on vacation and not for work.

“(Hussain) is a news producer in the Al Jazeera Arabic newsroom and not a correspondent supervisor as alleged by the statement ... (he) would not have traveled through the airport at Egypt if he was undertaking any illegal activities as alleged by the MOI statement,” the statement said.

The broadcaster expressed concerns over Hussain’s safety.

“Al Jazeera holds the Egyptian authorities against subjecting Mahmoud to torture or extracting any information from him by force,” it said.

Egypt has arrested several Al Jazeera reporters over the past two years, raising concerns over the freedom of journalists working in the country.

In May, a Cairo court recommended the death penalty against two of them, charged in absentia with endangering national security by leaking state secrets to Qatar.

The Brotherhood is a Qatar-backed movement that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has cracked down on since an army takeover in 2013 stripped former president Mohammed Mursi - a prominent member of the group - of power following mass protests against his rule.

Thousands of Brotherhood supporters including Mursi are in jail and Egypt has designated the group, which says it is non-violent, a terrorist organization.</s>Security officials say Mahmoud Hussein is accused of attempting to overthrow President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi's government.

An Al Jazeera news producer has been arrested in Egypt over accusations of attempting to overthrow the government and being a member of the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

Mahmoud Hussein was arrested at his Cairo home on Friday, Al Jazeera Media Network said, but it was not known where he was being held.

"Al Jazeera holds Egyptian authorities responsible for the safety of Hussein and is calling for his immediate release," the Qatar-based network said in a statement.

Hussein, who lives in the capital Doha, used to work in Egypt before Al Jazeera closed its office there in 2013.

He was questioned for more than 15 hours at Cairo's airport on Tuesday after arriving for a vacation, security sources told The Associated Press news agency.

State security also stormed the homes of Hussein's two brothers and arrested them.

Officials from the Interior Ministry were not immediately available for comment.

Egyptian authorities have over the past few years arrested several Al Jazeera employees, raising concerns over media freedom in the country.

In May, a Cairo court recommended the death penalty against two of them, charged in absentia, with endangering national security by allegedly leaking state secrets to Qatar.

Al Jazeera's Baher Mohamed, Mohamed Fahmy and Peter Greste - along with seven colleagues outside the country - were accused of spreading "false news" during their coverage of demonstrations against a military overthrow of then-president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

Baher Mohamed and Mohamed Fahmy spent 437 days in jail before being released. Greste spent more than a year in prison.

The Muslim Brotherhood has been cracked down on since the army takeover in 2013 stripped Morsi - a prominent member of the group - of power following mass protests against his rule.

Thousands of Brotherhood supporters, including Morsi, are in jail and Egypt has designated the group, which says it is non-violent, as a "terrorist organisation".</s>CAIRO, Dec 25 (Reuters) - Egypt confirmed on Sunday that it had arrested an Al Jazeera news producer, accusing him of "provoking sedition" on behalf of the Qatar-based broadcaster that it considers a mouthpiece of the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

Judicial sources said Mahmoud Hussain, who was detained on Friday, was being held on charges of disturbing public security and spreading false news.

The Interior Ministry said in a statement that Al Jazeera officials "had ordered some individuals collaborating with the channel inside the country to continue implementing its media plan of provoking sedition, incitement against the state, and spreading chaos through broadcasting false news."

It identified Hussain as a person implementing that plan for the channel which is not allowed to operate inside Egypt.

Al Jazeera was not immediately available for comment.

Egypt has arrested several Al Jazeera reporters over the past two years, raising concerns over media freedoms in the country.

In May, a Cairo court recommended the death penalty against two of them, charged in absentia with endangering national security by leaking state secrets to Qatar.

The Brotherhood is a Qatar-backed movement that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has cracked down on since an army takeover in 2013 stripped former president Mohammed Mursi - a prominent member of the group - of power following mass protests against his rule.

Thousands of Brotherhood supporters including Mursi are in jail and Egypt has designated the group, which says it is non-violent, a terrorist organisation. (Reporting by Haitham Ahmed and Ahmed Mohammed Hassan; Writing by Asma Alsharif; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)</s>A news producer for Al Jazeera was arrested while on vacation in Egypt, police reported Saturday.

Egyptian Mahmoud Hussein was arrested at his house Friday, having been accused of belonging to the banned Muslim Brotherhood movement and producing fake news.

Hussein had been stopped for questioning days earlier in the Cairo airport as he returned home for vacation, but authorities let him go.

"Al Jazeera holds Egyptian authorities responsible for the safety of Hussein and is calling for his immediate release," the Qatar-based network said in a statement.

Al Jazeera news network reported that Hussein's brothers also had been arrested. Where they were being held was not released.

Hussein has worked in the capital, Doha, since 2013, when Al Jazeera closed its office in his hometown of Cairo.

Egyptian media have experienced an acute decline in freedom under President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who has personally met with journalists and writers at least three times since coming to power in a clear effort to set government red lines.

Last year, Egypt imprisoned a record 23 journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Egypt is second only to China as the worst global jailer of journalists.</s>Egypt has confirmed it has arrested an Al Jazeera news producer, accusing him of "provoking sedition" on behalf of the Qatar-based broadcaster that the country considers a mouthpiece of the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

Judicial sources said Mahmoud Hussein, who was detained on Friday, was being held on charges of disturbing public security and spreading false news.

The Interior Ministry said in a statement Al Jazeera officials "had ordered some individuals collaborating with the channel inside the country to continue implementing its media plan of provoking sedition, incitement against the state, and spreading chaos through broadcasting false news".

It identified Mr Hussein as a person implementing that plan for the channel, which is not allowed to operate inside Egypt.

Al Jazeera issued a statement later on Sunday denying the "fabricated charges" brought against Mr Hussein and demanding his immediate release, adding that he was in Egypt on vacation and not for work.

"[Hussein] is a news producer in the Al Jazeera Arabic newsroom and not a correspondent supervisor as alleged by the statement ... [he] would not have travelled through the airport at Egypt if he was undertaking any illegal activities as alleged by the MOI statement," the statement said.

Egypt has arrested several Al Jazeera reporters over the past two years, raising concerns over the freedom of journalists working in the country.

Australian Peter Greste was released in February 2015 after 400 days in a Cairo prison.

In August of that year he was tried in absentia and charged with supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and operating in Egypt without a licence.

His colleagues Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed were pardoned and released a month later, following years of international lobbying for their release.

In May, a Cairo court recommended the death penalty against two journalists, charged in absentia with endangering national security by leaking state secrets to Qatar.

The Brotherhood is a Qatar-backed movement that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has cracked down on since an army takeover in 2013 stripped former president Mohammed Morsi — a prominent member of the group — of power following mass protests against his rule.

Thousands of Brotherhood supporters, including Morsi, are in jail and Egypt has designated the group, which says it is non-violent, a terrorist organisation.</s>Egypt has confirmed it has arrested a producer of Al-Jazeera, a broadcaster partly funded by the ruling family of Qatar, for "provoking sedition" on behalf of the media organization.

The Interior Ministry identified the producer as Mahmoud Hussain, who was arrested Friday on charges of disturbing security and spreading false news accounts.

Al-Jazeera said Egypt detained Hussain on "fabricated charges" after he traveled there to visit his family and has demanded that he be immediately released.

This is the latest in a series of Egyptian arrests of Al-Jazeera journalists, further raising concerns over the freedom of journalists working in the country.

Al-Jazeera's news coverage in the years following Egypt's 2011 Arab Spring revolution and the 2013 overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi was intensely criticized by the Egyptian government.</s>CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian police arrested an Al Jazeera news producer on Friday over accusations of attempting to overthrow the country's government and being a member of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, three security sources said.

The Qatar-based broadcaster, which Egypt accuses of being a mouthpiece of the Brotherhood, said it did not know where Mahmoud Hussain was being held.

Hussain was questioned for more than 15 hours at Cairo airport on Tuesday after arriving for his annual vacation, the broadcaster said on its website. He is currently based in Doha but worked in Egypt before Al Jazeera closed its office there in 2013.

He was arrested at his Cairo home on Friday, Al Jazeera and the sources said.

Officials from the Interior Ministry were not immediately available for comment.

Egyptian authorities have over the past two years arrested several Al Jazeera reporters, raising concerns over media freedoms in the country.

In May, a Cairo court recommended the death penalty against two of them, charged in absentia with endangering national security by leaking state secrets to Qatar.

The Brotherhood is a Qatar-backed movement that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has cracked down on since an army takeover in 2013 stripped former president Mohammed Mursi - a prominent member of the group - of power following mass protests against his rule.

Thousands of Brotherhood supporters including Mursi are in jail and Egypt has designated the group, which says it is non-violent, a terrorist organization.</s>Qatar-based satellite news channel Al Jazeera accused Egypt yesterday of detaining one of its producers on "fabricated charges," its latest newsroom employee to be entangled in their bitter dispute.

The broadcaster issued a statement describing the allegations levied by Egypt's Interior Ministry against Mahmoud Hussein as containing "an alarming number of false facts and allegations."

Egypt said Monday it detained Hussein at a home in Cairo. It said he was instructed by his Doha-based employer to publish "false rumors" about the country.

Al Jazeera said Hussein didn't work as a "correspondent supervisor as alleged," but as a producer for its Arabic-language channel.

"Mahmoud went to Egypt to visit his family during his vacation with full confidence in himself, his profession and his integrity," the broadcaster said.

It's unclear if Hussein has a lawyer. Egyptian officials have said he'll be held for 15 days pending an investigation.

This is the latest arrest by Egypt targeting the state-funded broadcaster, whose coverage in the years after the country's 2011 Arab Spring revolution and 2013 military overthrow of elected President Mohammed Morsi has drawn intense government criticism.

Three Al Jazeera English employees were convicted and imprisoned in June 2014 over allegations of collaborating with the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood, a case that drew international condemnation. Qatar's conservative rulers had strong ties to the Brotherhood, of which Morsi belonged.

One of the journalists, Australian Peter Greste, was deported from Egypt in February 2015. The other two, Canadian-Egyptian Mohammed Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohammed, received presidential pardons in September 2015.

Al-Jazeera Arabic reporter Abdullah Elshamy, who also was held for 10 months without charge, was later released after a hunger strike. Meanwhile, two separate Al Jazeera employees were sentenced to death in absentia this June for passing secret state documents to Qatar, renewing tensions between the two nations.</s>Egyptian authorities have detained a news producer working with Al Jazeera for allegedly spreading false news, state television reported on Sunday.

Prosecutors on Sunday ordered that Mahmoud Hussein be jailed for 15 days pending further investigations on charges of spreading false news.

He was alleged to have fabricated reports on the internal situation in Egypt to be shown on Al Jazeera, the broadcaster added on its website.

The Interior Ministry said Hussein, an Egyptian, was arrested for alleged involvement in “implementing a plot by Al Jazeera aimed at stirring sedition and inciting against state institutions.”

Egyptian government officials had repeatedly accused Al Jazeera of bias toward deposed Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood group, an accusation denied by the broadcaster.

The Doha-based network said Hussein had been arrested this week, days after his arrival from Qatar in Egypt to spend his annual holiday.

Al Jazeera added that his detention “represents a new chapter in the Egyptian authorities’ crackdown” on its journalists.

Ties have been tense between Egypt and Qatar since the army’s 2013 overthrow of Morsi following mass protests against his rule.

Scores of journalists and rights campaigners have been detained by the Egyptian government since Morsi’s overthrow.

In May 2016, an Egyptian court sentenced two Al Jazeera employees to death in absentia on charges of leaking secret state documents to Qatar in a case also involving Morsi.

In September 2015, Egyptian President Abdullah Fattah al-Sisi pardoned two other Al Jazeera journalists sentenced to three years in prison each in separate cases.</s>A Qatari employee of the Al Jazeera Arabic language TV news channel passes by the logo of Al Jazeera in Doha, Qatar. Egyptian Mahmoud Hussein was arrested at his house Friday, having been accused of belonging to the banned Muslim Brotherhood movement and producing fake news.

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A producer of Al Jazeera is arrested in Egypt.