Archive for South Sinai

Israel in contact with Egypt over detained former soldier, peace activist

by admin
January 1st, 2013

Israel’s state radio said on Tuesday that the foreign ministry is making contact with Egyptian authorities to secure the release of an Israeli who has been detained in Egypt since Saturday.

An Egyptian state security official had said Monday that they had arrested a retired Israeli army sergeant near Taba in South Sinai after entering the country illegally. His mother and Israeli media have both claimed he is a civilian pro-Palestinian activist.

According to Egyptian state news agency MENA, the man was a Tel Aviv resident of Russian origin who was not carrying a passport, and his name had not been on tourist arrival lists. But Israeli media reported that Andrei Pshenichnikov, a known pro-Palestinian activist, had crossed into Egypt with the intention of entering the Gaza Strip, an area that is off limits to Israelis for security reasons.

His mother, Svetlana, told Israel Radio that he was in custody in Egypt and that he had intended to travel via Sinai to Cairo to rendezvous with friends from France.

"He received his visa [to visit Egypt] and went to Eilat, intending to cross into Egypt, tour the area and then go to Cairo, but Israeli police stopped him at the border and said he had tried to cross the border illegally … they held him for several days and they demanded he sign an undertaking not to go to Cairo, but he refused."

She added that her son was eventually released by Israeli authorities after his Israeli and Russian passports had been confiscated, but that later in the day he had called from Taba and said he had been detained there by Egyptian authorities.

"After he finished his army service … he supported [Palestinians] … He later rented an apartment in a refugee camp in Bethlehem to prove to the locals that there are Israelis who are in favor of peace," Svetlana added.

Egyptian security sources in Sinai said the detainee had been gathering information about Sinai from drivers in the area near the Taba border crossing between Egypt and Israel.

Egypt is trying to reassert control over Sinai, which has suffered from lax security since the uprising that overthrew Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.

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Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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Masked gunmen storm Mount Sinai power station

by admin
December 28th, 2012

Masked gunmen stormed the power station at Mount Sinai at dawn on Friday, stealing electricity cables worth LE900,000 and causing power outages across the city for several hours.

The power station is located 10 km outside the city. Mahmoud Hefnawy, director of the South Sinai Security Directorate, said he received a complaint stating that five gunmen threatened technicians at the station with automatic weapons, and also stole the technicians’ phones.

Station manager Osama Atta told Al-Masry Al-Youm that he had asked the authorities to secure the station after a similar incident had occurred in February. However, the police have not been guarding the station since the Armed Forces left two months ago, he said.

Two technicians, an engineer and an unarmed security person were present at the station during the rubber, Atta said. According to the witnesses, the attackers had sophisticated weapons.

Sources from the Electricity Ministry said the station’s staff has threatened to cut the power supply to Mount Sinai and Sharm al-Sheikh if the station is not properly secured.

Losses from the robbery are still being calculated, and South Sinai was not affected by the robbery, said Mohamed al-Awadi, director of South Sinai electricity.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

 

 

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Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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Update: Morsy issues official law staggering referendum vote

by admin
December 12th, 2012

President Mohamed Morsy has issued a law officially dividing the referendum on the constitution into two stages, according to MENA.

Ten governorates will vote in the first stage on 15 December: Cairo, Alexandria, Aswan, Assiut, Daqahlia, Gharbiya, Sharqiya, Sohag, South Sinai and North Sinai. The second stage will be conducted 22 December in the governorates of Giza, Qena, Beheira, Beni Suef, Damietta, Ismailia, Kafr al-Sheikh, Matrouh, Monufiya, New Valley, Port Said, Qalyubiya, Red Sea, Suez and Luxor.

MENA had earlier announced that electoral officials had decided to stagger voting in the referendum over two consecutive Saturdays, 15 and 22 December.

The move comes after most judges have refused to supervise the vote in protest over the president's recent constitutional declaration increasing his own powers and undermining the judiciary.

Judges Club head Ahmed al-Zend said in a press conference Tuesday that 90 percent of judges and prosecutors across the country would not participate in the upcoming constitutional referendum based on a survey conducted by the club.

Prosecutor General Talaat Abdallah issued a memorandum on Tuesday appealing to prosecutors nationwide to supervise the referendum.

Abdallah, who was put in place by the president's decree, wrote that he understands prosecutors suspended their work because of the first constitutional declaration, which they felt compromised the independence of the judiciary, but said that the president replaced the declaration with a weaker one after meeting with various political forces.

Meanwhile, Egyptian expatriates began voting abroad on Wednesday on the controversial constitution. The 586,000 voters eligible to cast ballots abroad have four days to do so at designated embassies and consulates. The counting process for those ballots will begin immediately after voting ends Saturday evening, elections officials said in a statement Tuesday, after which the results will be submitted to the general elections committee and then to the High Judicial Elections Commission.

There are 51.33 million people in the national voter database after an update by the Administrative Development Ministry, which has been combing through the records on the orders of the elections commission.

The update included removing the names of the deceased, those recently convicted of crimes and people who have joined the police or armed forces, database manager Tareq Saad told state-run news agency MENA Wednesday. Citizens who were 18 years old as of 30 November, when the decision to put the constitution to a referendum was made, were added to the registry.

Voters can inquire about their electoral district through the High Elections Commission's website, by sending an SMS to 5151, by calling hotline 140, or through a smartphone application.

Most people will be voting in the same polling stations where they cast their ballots in the presidential election, Saad said, according to MENA.

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Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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Copts make up less than 1 percent of incoming Military Academy class

by admin
November 20th, 2012

Copts made up a very small percentage of the incoming class at the Military Academy, which also saw a small number of cadets from Sinai.

Academy chief Major General Essmat Murad told Al-Masry Al-Youm on Thursday that 25 students from North Sinai were admitted, as well as 11 from South Sinai. For many years, Sinai Bedouin complained about exclusion from police and military academies. Other figures include 13 new cadets from Aswan, eight from the Red Sea, three from New Valley and eight from Marsa Matrouh. Typically most new cadets come from middle class urban families from Cairo and Alexandria. He said that the number of applicants had risen from 40,000 to 72,000 this year.

Murad disclosed for the first time the number of Copts who were admitted to the academy. He said 20 Copts were admitted out 637 that applied. This means that less than 1 percent of applicants were Copts, who constitute about 10 percent of Egypt’s 83 million people.  

Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had approved the list of 2,451 new cadets at military colleges. The number was 17 percent higher than applicants last year.
Newly-enrolled Military Academy students swore loyalty to the armed forces in an unprecedented procedure at a ceremony, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported.

Murad said that the academy would terminate the enrollment of any students who were involved in politics or expressed political sentiments. “We will not allow any political practices or expression of partisan thought by students inside or outside military colleges.”

Sources at the academy said the new practice aims to ensure that students are not loyal to any political group.

Concerns have surfaced that the rise of Islamists to power would lead to an attempt to dominate the key military and police training institution.

In February, Al-Masry Al-Youm quoted security sources as saying lawmakers from the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party had asked for a six-month intensive course at the Police Academy for law school graduates affiliated with the group, reportedly to help fill security gaps.

The Brotherhood denied such claims and Police Academy officials said they do not set quotas for any political or other groups.

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Tuesday papers: The Sinai file re-opened

by admin
November 13th, 2012

 

Tuesday’s edition of the Independent newspaper Al-Shorouk leads with, “The presidency negotiates with jihadis and the military seeks revenge for the martyrs.” The newspaper reports that a source in the second army denied any negotiations with the jihadis, despite presidential sources who say otherwise. This comes against an attack in Rafah, where an exchange of fire occurred between a number of assailants and a central security camp. The military source adds that security operations continue in Sinai and that reinforcements have been sent to combat the extremists.

The source explains that the security forces completely refuse any form of negotiations with the jihadis and that security operations will not stop in Sinai under any circumstance. Presidential legal counsel Mohamed Fouad Gadallah had said earlier that the president is in negotiations with some segments in Sinai with jihadist ideas and another with an extreme enmity for the Ministry of Interior. The councilor added that a third column Sinai is extremely dangerous and aims at the dissolution of the country.

Al-Shorouk adds that five jihadis were arrested in Arish, two of who belong to the Nasr City terrorist cell. Salafi sources in the city say that the security measures are extremely strict against those who belong to religious groups, which may create chaos in the future and initiate a wave of vindictive operations against the security forces.

In “Al-Akhbar unveils the secrets of the arms market in Sinai,” the government mouthpiece states that Sudan, Libya and Jordan are the sources of arms in Sinai and that, according to sources, arms deals in Sinai started in 2000 from Upper Egypt. However, in 2002 dealers brought in M16 rifles from Jordan through Aqaba in the Red Sea. According to the state paper, the quality of the arms used in the last years has changed drastically; RPGs and anti-tank and aircraft missiles are widely used. Al-Akhbar cites sources saying that the arms smuggling route with Jordan was later discovered by Israel and stopped, which led to the creation of a new line between the years of 2002 and 2010, linking Yemen and Sudan to Sinai. After the toppling of Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi, the arms smuggling started with Libya. Prices vary, according to the source, but a normal rifle would cost between LE11,000 and LE12,000 and the bullet costs between LE1 and LE7. An RPG can cost as much as LE25,000 while a grenade costs LE100. In related news, political forces in Sinai are warning of the deteriorating security there, describing the situation as "dangerous." 

Covering an attack on the Central Security Forces camp in Rafah, Al-Akhbar reports that the attack was the second in 24 hours. It also reports that residents in Arish have objected to the way security forces searched homes looking for convicts, accusing them of disregarding the inviolability of women.

On a similar note, Al-Akhbar also reports that Doaa Rashad, the wife of kidnapped police officer Mohamed Mostafa al-Gohary, has stated in a TV show that Mohamed al-Zawahiri of the Salafi Jihad group in Egypt had offered to return her husband, along with a number of kidnapped officers. Zawahiri’s offer was reportedly authorized by the president’s office and intelligence. Gohary was kidnapped in February 2011.

The mouthpiece of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Freedom and Justice Newspaper, leads with “Qandil presents a statement of account to the president today.” The paper also reports that the prime minister has inaugurated four factories in Beni Suef Governorate, at a cost of LE262 million.   

Further down on the front page, Freedom and Justice runs another Sinai-related story, “The foreigners in Sinai … a precarious file.” According to the publication, most foreigners live legally in South Sinai and work in tourism, and some are even married to Egyptians. Former MP Abdallah Haggag stated that foreigners are comprised of several nationalities, mainly Americans, Russians and Israelis. The MP added that the foreign work force in Sinai exceeds the legal limit of 10 percent. Shura Assembly member Ahmed Youssef states that 1,400 Fatah members have been residing in Sinai since 2008 and asked why.

Egypt’s papers:



Al-Ahram: Daily, state-run, largest distribution in Egypt



Al-Akhbar: Daily, state-run, second to Al-Ahram in institutional size



Al-Gomhurriya: Daily, state-run



Rose al-Youssef: Daily, state-run



Al-Dostour: Daily, privately owned



Al-Shorouk: Daily, privately owned



Al-Watan: Daily, privately owned



Al-Wafd: Daily, published by the liberal Wafd Party



Youm7: Daily, privately owned



Al-Tahrir: Daily, privately owned



Al-Sabah: Daily, privately owned



Freedom and Justice: Daily, published by the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party



Sawt al-Umma: Weekly, privately owned



Al-Arabi: Weekly, published by the Nasserist Party



Al-Nour: Official paper of the Salafi Nour Party

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South Sinai checkpoints tighten security after police killings

by admin
November 5th, 2012

The South Sinai Security Directorate tightened security measures late Sunday at the governorate’s entrances and exits, from Oyoun Moussa in Ras Sudr to northern Taba.

Sinai security deteriorated after unknown attackers killed three policemen in North Sinai Saturday.

The South Sinai directorate raised the number of troops and checkpoints for 850 kilometers along the international road. Authorities have also agreed with Bedouin tribal leaders to secure the mountainous areas and provide information about suspicious people who attempt to cross the area to the governorate.

North Sinai police had withdrawn and blocked vital roads to protest the killings. Some police officers held President Mohamed Morsy responsible for leaving them without protection in face of recurring assaults against police.

An official South Sinai source told state news agency MENA that IDs of people arriving in the governorate are being checked. South Sinai Governor Khaled Fouda said the security situation has stabilized, denying reports about terrorists infiltrating the governorate.

The governor pointed to an increasing tourist turnover in South Sinai, adding that hotel occupancy rates increased to 80 percent this week.

Edited translation from MENA

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UK Foreign Office denies warning against travel to Egypt

by admin
November 4th, 2012

The UK Foreign Office said Sunday that its "overall advice for travel to Egypt has not changed this weekend," and it only recommends against all travel to North Sinai and all but essential travel to parts of South Sinai, citing “a high threat from terrorism.”

“We do not advise against travel to Egypt. Changes made over the weekend concerned the threat of terrorism,” the foreign office wrote on its Facebook page.

More than a million UK citizens visit Egypt annually, according to Egypt’s Tourism Ministry. The majority go to Red Sea resorts like Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada.

Three policemen were killed in North Sinai on Saturday in the largest attack against security forces since August, when gunmen killed 16 army soldiers in an attack on a border outpost.

The military launched a wide-ranging campaign after that attack to flush out militants, but drive-by shootings such as the one on Saturday have continued.

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Officer injured in Sinai gas station attack

by admin
October 22nd, 2012

A security officer at Abordis Police Department was wounded in an armed attack by unidentified armed men Monday afternoon inside a gas station in Abordis, South Sinai, security and medical sources said.

Sources said the security member is Mohamed Kamel Mohamed, 22. He was severely injured in the chest and was taken to Sharm el-Sheikh International Hospital for treatment.

Security authorities began their investigation of the incident to find the attacker, the sources said.

Security and military forces have launched an extensive campaign to purge the Sinai Peninsula of criminals, after the death of 16 Egyptian security officers in an attack targeting a security checkpoint near the Israel border on 5 August.

Edited translation from MENA

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Interior Ministry warns of possible jihadi operations in South Sinai

by admin
October 17th, 2012

The Interior Ministry warned all police stations and security forces in South Sinai of the need to be on alert for jihadi attacks after the group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdes announced that it would avenge the killing of two senior members in the Gaza Strip.

Security measures were intensified through the deployment of patrol units along the roads. The police called on Bedouin guards in deeper valleys to report and arrest any suspected individuals moving within the valleys and coming from North Sinai.

A security source said that the statement was a precautionary measure, especially anticipating the arrival of many foreign tourists and Egyptians for Eid al-Adha. He pointed out that security services have not detected jihadis in the region at this time, but have received information that jihadis are planning operations.

Sinai activist Mohamed al-Tablaoey said the state of alert was announced in Arish three days ago.

Tablaoey added that Ansar Bayt al-Maqdes’s threats should be taken seriously as the group has previously carried out revenge operations after the killings of jihadi leaders.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Heavy rains sweep Aswan

by admin
October 2nd, 2012

Heavy thunderstorms and rain swept the city of Aswan in Upper Egypt on Tuesday, flooding the streets and causing a complete halt of traffic. It was also hit by dust storms that cut off power to the whole city.

No reports of deaths, injuries or collapse of buildings have been received so far, but the governor announced a state of emergency for the ambulance services, the fire brigade and the hospitals, and Nile cruisers had to dock.

The General Authority for Meteorology (GAM) has warned of possible torrential rain with autumn approaching, which requires the clearing of water drains in North and South Sinai, the Red Sea strip and some governorates in Upper Egypt, according to GAM official Wahid Seoudy.

The cities of Nuweiba and St. Catherine in South Sinai saw medium torrential rain on Sunday that disrupted traffic on the international road in central Sinai and the Dahab-St. Catherine-Nuweiba Road.

Edited translation from MENA

 

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