Cairo: Seven Egyptian soldiers, abducted last week in the restive Sinai Peninsula, appeared in an alleged video posted online, urging President Mohammad Mursi to respond to their captors’ demands.
The soldiers were shown in the video blindfolded with their hands on the heads as they appealed to Mursi to release what they called Sinai political prisoners.
“Help us, Mr president. We can no longer stand the situation. We are dying,” said one soldier as a gun appeared pointed to his head. “Hurry up and release the political prisoners from Sinai mainly Shaikh Hamada Abu Sheeta as soon as possible,” said another referring to a jihadist being held on charges of attacking a police station in Sinai last year.
The seven, who were kidnapped on Thursday in northern Sinai, appeared in the video clad in plainclothes, with each announcing his name and posting in the army or the police.
“If we are as dear to you as Gilad Shalit was to Israel, hurry up to get us released,” said a third soldier. Shalit was an Israeli soldier who was released by the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement last year after five-year captivity in a prisoner swap deal brokered by Egypt.
A security official refused to comment on the video, tersely saying that the authenticity of the footage was being checked.
Egyptian authorities have reportedly been negotiating through Sinai tribal leaders with the abductors, who are believed to be relatives of prisoners convicted of involvement in deadly attacks on security forces.
However, state television quoted Mursi as vowing in crisis talks with politicians Sunday night not to negotiate “with the criminals or bow to blackmailing”.
The Islamist president has drawn heavy criticism from the secular-leaning opposition for reportedly giving the go-ahead for negotiations with the abductors.
Angry Egyptian soldiers have been closing the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip since Friday in protest against their colleagues’ abduction. The closure has stranded more than 2,500 Palestinians on both sides of the crossing, which is the Palestinian enclave’s only outlet with the outside world.
