A security source on Monday denied that Sinai Bedouins kidnapped soldiers from the multinational force operating in Sinai.
The source told state-run MENA news agency that the soldiers had lost their way but then returned to their positions.
Earlier, different security sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the Egyptian security services freed ten members of the peacekeeping forces in the northern Sinai who had been held by Bedouins for about an hour.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the sources had said ten soldiers from Latin America were accidentally passing by a protest by tribes demanding the release of their relatives who were convicted in absentia of political issues, when the tribes held them captive until the protest was over, and after the tribe elders had intervened.
In March, dozens of armed Bedouin encircled a camp belonging to a multinational peacekeeping force in the Sinai for eight days before lifting their siege after negotiations with the Egyptian army. Those Bedouin had been trying to pressure the Egyptian authorities to release tribesmen from jail.
The multinational forces in Sinai consist of three infantry battalions of around 2,000 troops. There is one from Fiji in mid-Sinai, another one from Colombia in North Sinai and a third one from the US in Sharm el-Sheikh.
In addition, there are minesweepers from Italy, jets and helicopters for logistical operations and medical evacuation purposes, and monitoring forces from Italy, France and other countries. These are stationed in Goura Airport, Ras al-Naqab and Nuweiba.
