Egyptian police have arrested at least 16 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood as parts of the country prepare for parliamentary runoff elections Saturday.

The arrests occurred Friday in Alexandria. A spokesman for the Brotherhood said the arrests are an attempt to cut the Brotherhood off from its supporters and punishment for winning parliamentary seats in earlier elections.

The Muslim Brotherhood has tripled its strength in parliament in recent elections, raising the party's total to 47 seats.

In Saturday's elections, voters will cast ballots in nine provinces where no candidate won a majority in the previous round of voting.

The Muslim Brotherhood is banned as a political party, but it endorses so-called independent candidates whose allegiance to the party is known to voters.

Some information for this report provided by Reuters, AP.