Seven Bedouin detainees were freed yesterday and more will be released soon, security sources have announced.
Meanwhile, a number of North Sinai Bedouins wanted by security authorities have rejected a request by parliament members for a consultation meeting to reach an agreement with the Ministry of Interior.
Tensions have been rising between Bedouin tribes and the ministry over the past week due to security detentions and raids in search of wanted Bedouin fugitives.
The wanted Bedouin have justified their refusal to attend the proposed meeting on the basis that its timing is too late. They believe that Egyptian MPs should have taken immediate action after clashes began, rather than waiting until the interior ministry pushed them towards mediation.
MP Fayez Abu Harb, one of the sponsors of the mediation efforts, expressed his readiness to seek a resolution between the Interior Ministry, the province’s security chief and local residents. He denied being commissioned with his colleagues to take on this initiative.
In other news, one of the primary suspects sought by security authorities, Moussa el-Dalah, has responded to statements allegedly delivered by the Interior Ministry, that he and Salem Lafy, another suspect, will not be granted amnesty.
“Only God can grant amnesty. We demand a retrial before an impartial court of officers accused of killing Bedouins, especially those who murdered Ahmed el-Argany and three others and buried them in the trash,” el-Dalah said.
El-Argany was killed by security forces in 2008, after which clashes escalated between local residents and police.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
