Egypt opposition spurns talks on soldier kidnappings

Cairo: Egypt’s main opposition bloc on Sunday boycotted crisis talks called by Islamist President Mohammad Mursi to discuss the situation in the troubled Sinai Peninsula after gunmen had abducted seven soldiers.

Leaders from the secular-leaning National Salvation Front said they had not accepted a presidential invitation for the meeting to protest what they called “incomprehensible selective conduct” in dealing with the opposition.

The bloc, an umbrella grouping of leftist and liberal political parties, has been locked for months in a sharp political dispute with Mursi whom it accuses of acting at the command of his Muslim Brotherhood group.

“While the Front confirms the importance of this dear part of Egypt [Sinai]... it expresses surprise over the incomprehensible selective conduct in dealing with the opposition that has been excluded from discussing fateful decisions of far-reaching impact despite our constant attempts to find a common ground,” the grouping said in a statement.

Mursi was due later in the day to meet with leaders of political parties and prominent politicians to discuss what the official Middle East News Agency said repercussions of the soldier kidnappings and efforts to secure their release.

A presidential official Sunday did not rule out the use of force to free the soldiers who were seized in Sinai on Thursday.

“All options are there. If there is an intention to carry out military action as the last solution, this will be done,” presidential spokesman Omar Amer told the privately owned station ON TV.

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.