Cairo - Egypt's public prosecutor's office said on Saturday it had received complaints accusing deposed President Mohamed Morsi and other senior leaders of his Muslim Brotherhood of spying, inciting killings of protesters and damaging the economy.
The prosecutor's office said in a statement it was investigating the complaints to prepare a file so that those accused could be questioned. It did not say who had lodged the complaints.
Egypt's legal system allows prosecutors to investigate complaints made by the police or by any member of the public. It can take days or months for formal charges to appear. Prosecutors rarely issue statements based on complaints before charges are filed.
The statement named eight other Islamist figures including the Brotherhood's top leader, Mohamed Badie, and the deputy leader of its political party Essam El-Erian, and said others had also been named.
Morsi has been held incommunicado at an undisclosed location with since the military removed him from power on July 3. Badie and El-Erian are among senior Brotherhood officials that the authorities have already said are wanted over accusations they incited violence.
The United States and other Western countries have urged the provisional authorities to release Morsi and to halt arrests of other Brotherhood leaders.
The military says it was justified in removing Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president, after millions of people marched against him. The Brotherhood has denounced what it calls a military coup. - Reuters