Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri met with Sinai tribal elders on Monday to discuss the peninsula’s security situation in light of repeated tourist kidnappings and bombings of the natural gas pipeline.
Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Fayza Abouelnaga said Ganzouri will meet again with tribal elders next week to discuss their demands, adding that the state budget includes a provision for developing Sinai and promoting private investment there.
“The prime minister agreed to projects for agriculture, railroads and land ownership,” she said, noting that the release of Bedouin prisoners requires legislative amendments.
North Sinai Governor Abdel Wahab Mabrouk said that 130 martial sentences against Bedouins were dropped, and that others accused would be tried before a criminal court and not a military one.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
