Egypt’s Mursi Summons Defense, Interior Ministers over Kidnappings

Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi on Thursday summoned his defense and interior ministers over the kidnapping hours earlier of policemen and soldiers in the Sinai peninsula, the official MENA agency reported.

The crisis talks at the presidential palace come after unidentified gunmen kidnapped three Egyptian policemen and four soldiers in the lawless Sinai peninsula, security officials said.

The servicemen were returning from Cairo when their minibus was stopped at gunpoint in Al-Wadi al-Akhdar region which lies east of El-Areesh in north Sinai, they said.

The three captured policemen are from the Central Security Forces while the four other men belong to the armed forces. "The kidnappers have not issued any demands yet," a security official said.

Local Bedouin leaders have been called in to mediate between authorities and the kidnappers. According to Bedouin sources, it is believed the kidnappers want the release of certain prisoners.
A spate of hostage takings, which usually last for no longer than 48 hours, broke out in Sinai after an uprising forced out president Hosni Mubarak in early 2011 and battered his security services.