CAIRO — Egyptian authorities today continued their crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies by arresting two more high-profile Islamist figures, while officials said they had started a closed hearing in a prison outside Cairo on whether to release jailed ex-president Hosni Mubarak.

The arrested Islamists include a preacher known for his fiery sermons who was reportedly caught as he tried to flee to neighboring Libya in disguise, and a spokesman for the Brotherhood said to be on his way to catch a flight out of the country.

They are the latest allies of President Mohammed Morsi, who hails from the Brotherhood, to be arrested. On Tuesday authorities detained the Brotherhood’s supreme leader and spiritual guide, Mohammed Badie, dealing a serious blow to an embattled movement now struggling to keep up its protest campaign.

Security officials meanwhile said that a court was conducting hearings in Tora prison near Cairo over whether or not Mubarak could be released.

A court ruling earlier in the week raised the possibility that Mubarak could walk free, a move that would fuel the unrest.

Mubarak, in detention since April 2011, was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison last year for failing to stop the killing of some 900 protesters in Egypt’s 2011 uprising. His sentence was overturned on appeal and he is now being retried, along with his security chief and six top commanders.