The arrest came as authorities continued a crackdown on the Brotherhood, the party of ousted president Mohamed Morsi, which has sparked deadly protests and international condemnation.

Ministry spokesman Abdel-Fattah Osman said in a television interview that Badie was hiding in a building in Cairo’s Nasr City district near Rabaa El-Adaweya mosque.

Photos circulated on social media showed Badie, dressed in a traditional white robe, sitting between two policemen wearing bulletproof vests in what looked like a police van.

Egyptian satellite channel ONTV later broadcast live footage showing the 70-year-old sitting on a couch in an unidentified location after being captured. A policeman holding a rifle was seen standing next to him.