Soldiers released after a week in captivity

Cairo: Seven Egyptian soldiers were Wednesday released in the restive Sinai Peninsula a week after their abduction, said a military official.

“Their release was due to efforts of the Egyptian military intelligence (service) and the honourable Sinai shaikhs,” added Mohammad Ahmad Ali, the spokesman for the Egyptian army. “They are now on their way to Cairo.”

The release came hours after a military build-up in Sinai where the soldiers were abducted a week ago. The official did not say if the abductors, thought to be Sinai jihadists seeking the release of detained relatives, have been arrested. The state-run newspaper Al Ahram, citing a military source, said the soldiers had been released in an area 70km south of Al Arish, the capital city of North Sinai.

“Families of the seven soldiers received phone calls from their sons to tell them they are in a good condition,” added the source. The hostage-taking crisis was the worst facing Islamist President Mohammad Mursi since he took office 11 months ago.

The opposition has accused him of turning Sinai into a hub for radical Islamists who have allegedly taken advantage of a security breakdown in the large desert area.

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 thousands Palestinians on both sides of the crossing, which is the Palestinian enclave’s only outlet with the outside world.