CAIRO, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian prosecution decided Thursday to detain a former presidential candidate for 15 days pending investigation over his leadership of an outlawed group undermining the country's national interests and social peace, official MENA news agency reported.

Abdel-Moneim Aboul-Fotouh, the head of Strong Egypt Party, was arrested on Wednesday, along with several other leaders of his party, a day after his return from London.

Aboul-Fotouh is facing charges of spreading false news that would threaten the country's national interests and leading an outlawed group that seeks to undermine the state and its institutions, harm national unity and social peace and topple the regime by force, according to MENA.

The politician was once a leading member of the currently blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood group of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, who was toppled by the military in July 2013 in response to mass protests.

Aboul-Fotouh quit the Brotherhood in 2011, following the ouster of veteran President Hosni Mubarak, and ran as an independent candidate in the 2012 presidential election.

He has recently called for boycotting Egypt's 2018 presidential election scheduled for late March, where incumbent President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi is expected to make an easy win for a second term due to the lack of strong contenders in the race.