November 12, 2008	Wednesday	Ziqa'ad 13, 1429

EL-ARISH (Egypt), Nov 11: Armed Bedouin tribesmen briefly kidnapped a truckload of 25 Egyptian policemen in northern Sinai on Tuesday in protest at the killing of one of their number, a security official said.

“The Bedouin freed them in a mountainous area near the Israeli border,” the official said of the policemen, held for around two hours after being seized by three pick-ups of armed Bedouin as they were heading for the Israeli border.

Medics said another three Bedouin were killed in a wave of anti-police protests that swept the peninsula in response to the killing of an alleged Bedouin drug smuggler in a shoot-out with police on Monday.

Bedouin in the Sinai frequently complain of marginalisation and police abuse although some of the tribesmen are also involved in trafficking people, drugs and goods across the border into Israel or the Gaza Strip.

Monday’s killing sparked protests around the northern Sinai desert, including the siege of a police station in the small town of Madfouna on the Israeli border.

At least 12 people were wounded in the protests.

Four policemen, including an officer, and four protesters were hurt in the Madfouna protest, the interior ministry said, with the situation reportedly calm on Tuesday evening.

The Bedouin have been protesting in Madfouna since police killed the suspected drug smuggler. Hundreds turned out to protest the shooting.

One policeman and three Bedouin were wounded in a shootout following another protest on Tuesday in Wadi al-Azareq, also in north Sinai.—AFP