Egyptian prosecutors have ordered a 45-day extension of detention of an Al Jazeera journalist, amid allegations that the government is harassing the channel.



Abdallah Elshami, an Egyptian citizen and Al Jazeera Arabic's West Africa reporter, was ordered Wednesday to remain for an extended amount of time in detention while the government continued its investigation of the Rabaa al-Adawiya protest.


“The decision to extend the detention of 665 people arrested in Rabaa came last night,” said the lawyer representing Elshami.

The state prosecutor's office said those arrested in the Rabaa protest camp faced several accusations including possession of weapons and shooting at police, killing five officers.

On August 14, Elshami and about 700 demonstrators were arrested when police and soldiers attacked protest camps in Cairo, sparking clashes that killed hundreds of people.

Al Jazeera’s offices in Cairo have been shut down since July 3, when they were attacked by Egyptian security forces hours after former President Mohamed Morsi was ousted.

Cairo started the crackdown on the Qatar-based channel by raiding its offices and seizing its equipment.

Since then, a Cairo court ordered the closure of Al Jazeera Mubasher Misr earlier this month, along with three Islamist channels.

The army-appointed government has launched a bloody crackdown on Morsi supporters and arrested more than 2,000 Muslim Brotherhood members.

The massacre sparked international condemnation and prompted world bodies to call for an independent investigation into the violence.