CAIRO,(Reuters) – Egyptian police have detained 40 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s most powerful opposition group, a security source said on Saturday.

The men were detained in a summer camp in the northern coastal town of Baltim on suspicion of belonging to an illegal organisation and possessing Brotherhood literature and organisational documents, the source said.

A Muslim Brotherhood source confirmed the detentions.

Egyptian police regularly hold members of the Brotherhood for long periods and then release them without charge or trial.

The Brotherhood seeks an Islamic state through democratic elections, and operates openly despite having been banned since 1954. Members stand for election as independents, and won about one-fifth of seats in the lower house of parliament in 2005.