Egyptian prosecutors probe blogger's claim puppet ad hid bomb message for Muslim Brotherhood

Prosecutors have questioned officials at a major Egyptian telecoms firm over an online advertisement featuring a puppet that a controversial blogger says delivers a coded message linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.

The bizarre accusations made against Vodafone Egypt's advert starring well-known puppet Abla Fahita come soon after the government designated the Brotherhood a terrorist organisation.

The government accused the Brotherhood of orchestrating a series of attacks by Sinai militants, but has provided little evidence to prove the connection. The Brotherhood denies the accusations.

Ahmed "Spider", a self-styled youth activist known as a strong supporter of ousted president Hosni Mubarak, says claimed a code about an upcoming attack was included within the advert.

In the ad, Fahita and her daughter Karkoura search for her dead husband's SIM card, while explaining to her friend over the phone about another character "Mama Touta". In the background, a radio anchor explains how to make "stuffed turkey" for Christmas while sitting next to a cactus from which ball ornaments dangle. She says she asked the building's guards to get a sniffer dog from a shopping mall to search for some missing items and gets money in return.

Spider claims the mall and the dog refer to a planned site for an attack, while "Mama Touta" is the Brotherhood's secret name.