Sharm Hunt: Sinai Sweep Takes 300

A sweep by security forces in Sinai on Sunday involved 2.100 personnel and resulted in 300 arrests, mostly in the city of El-Arish on the North Coast near Gaza. The mass detention follow a claim by police last week that they had arrested the suspected mastermind in the July Sharm El-Sheikh bomb attack that killed near to 70 people. Previous post here.

Sinai was spared from militant attacks until last year when a string of deadly attacks hit Taaba and other resort towns. A sweep through Sinai that detained some 3,000 people was widely criticized by Human Right agencies since many, including relatives of ‘suspects’ were held without charges and not released until recently. Two persons are currently on trial for involvement in last year’s attack that is thought to be connected to the bombings in Sharm El-Sheikh.

The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights says 22 peopled died from torture by the police last year. Emergency laws in force since the assassination of a president in 1981 give few rights to the population. Suspicions that the two suspects currently on trial had been tortured were met with a report claiming their injuries were ‘normal.’

Last week a small explosion wounded two Canadian peace-observers in Sinai. An Islamist group claimed responsibility.