EL-ARISH: Armed Bedouin tribesmen on Tuesday briefly kidnapped a truckload of 25 Egyptian policemen in northern Sinai in protest at the killing of one of their number, a security official said.
The kidnapping was part of a wave of protests by Bedouin, who frequently complain of marginalization and police abuse, following the death of an alleged Bedouin drug smuggler in a shoot-out with police on Monday.
The Bedouin freed them in a mountainous area near the Israeli border, the official said of the 25 policemen, requesting anonymity.
Their release came around two hours after the police were seized by three pick-ups of armed Bedouin as they were heading for the Israeli border.
Monday s killing sparked protests around the northern Sinai desert, including the besieging 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, an interior ministry statement said, with the situation reportedly calm on Tuesday evening.
The Bedouin have been protesting in Madfouna since police killed the tribesman in Monday s shoot-out. Hundreds turned out to protest the shooting, firing guns into the air and burning tires.
One policeman and three Bedouin were wounded in a shoot-out following another protest on Tuesday in Wadi Al-Azareq, also in north Sinai, a security official said.
Bedouin say police routinely carry out arrests in north Sinai and that they feel under threat of having their car licenses confiscated or homes searched at any time.
In July, the detention of one of their number in the Sinai without charge saw hundreds of Bedouin burn tyres and block roads in protest.
A spate of bombings that hit popular tourist destinations in Sinai between 2004 and 2006 led to massive sweeps of the peninsula with thousands of Bedouin arrested.
The Egyptian government has regularly promised to pump money into the impoverished North Sinai and there have been several attempts in recent months at a rapprochement between authorities and the Bedouin.
The 250-km Egyptian-Israeli frontier has become a major transit route for migrants, asylum-seekers and drug smugglers, with Bedouin allegedly involved in the trafficking.
Dozens of migrants have been arrested in recent months as Egyptian police try to halt the constant stream into Israel. Several have been killed while trying to make the crossing.
Israel occasionally hands over to Egyptian authorities Bedouin they suspect of drug or people trafficking. -AFP
