Around a hundred heavy metal and rock music fans were arrested by officers of the Bureau of State Security in Egypt in late January, on suspicion of 'Satan-worshipping'.

 The arrests began on 22 January (1997) when 97 teenagers were arrested in Cairo and more in Alexandria, most of them taken from their homes by police. Many were residents of wealthy suburbs, the university-attending sons and daughters of Egypt's middle class.

 Homes were searched and material such as compact disks by bands including Metallica and Megadeath, T-shirts, key rings with little plastic skeletons, a Chicago Bulls basketball cap with a horned logo, and posters were taken as evidence of devil worship. The brother of one of those arrested, interviewed by the Middle East Times, said: 'All the proof they have they took from the kids' homes. They took some CDs, a T-shirt and a sketch of Bob Marley.' Police reportedly said that they would be listening hard to all the evidence.

 As a result of the arrests, the Egyptian band Cartoon Pillars has halted performances and the release of its first album. The design of its album cover, depicting a skeleton's hand, was regarded as too risky in the current climate. Satanic worship has been a favourite topic of the press in Egypt recently, with allegations that Satanists regularly hold meetings outside Cairo.

 Some of those arrested have admitted practising Satanic rituals, which included meetings in the Commonwealth cemetery in the wealthy Cairo suburb of Heliopolis, where bodies of Allied servicemen who fought in North Africa in World War II are buried. The participants admit dancing to heavy metal music, digging up skulls, desecrating religious symbols, smearing themselves with the blood of animals that they had killed, indulging in drugs and alcohol, and conducting orgies. Others, however, claim that they attended the meetings for more straightforward reasons. In Rose el Youssef magazine one of the accused said: 'I don't have anything to do with Satanism. I joined because their parties were exciting. I used to go to feel up the girls when they were dancing.'

 Pressure on the police to act grew, especially after Egypt's mufti, Nasr Farid, said in an interview in Akher Saa'a magazine on 27 November: 'Egypt, as the country of Al Azhar, can't tolerate this religious craziness and the spread of Satanic religion.' In the same issue, the minister of the interior Hassan Al-Alfi said: 'I call on Egyptian TV to adopt a project to reform these deviant thoughts through religious programmes.' He warned that 'the security forces will identify these groups and uproot them all.' There have also been calls for the punishment of death to be applied if apostasy is proven.

 Egypt's tabloids have leaped on the story, printing lurid details of the allegations with pictures and names of the accused, reports the Middle East Times. One tabloid photograph of a 17-year-old girl was captioned 'an agent of Satan', and younger members of her family were described as 'slaves of the anti-Christ'. The McDonald's fast food restaurant in Heliopolis was fingered by many newspapers as 'the gathering point for Satan's servants'.

 Foreign influences have been blamed: Israel, particularly, has been singled out as a culprit, by Sheikh Tantawi of Al Azhar University, the Islamic authority, who accused it of smuggling in Satanic music and images with the intention of corrupting Egypt's youth.

 Some of the accused have admitted that their liking for heavy metal music is part of a rebellion against Egypt and religious orthodoxy, and an expression of the alienation they feel with the establishment. Tariq, an accused Satanist, quoted in the Observer newspaper, said: 'We want to be different, to be unconventional. Satan encourages instant enjoyment and permits what religion forbids.'