Egypt president rules out talks with militants

Cairo: President Mohammad Mursi said Egypt won’t hold talks with criminals following a vow by the government to consider “all options” to free security personnel kidnapped in Sinai.

Citing military sources, Gulf News reported on Sunday that talks were halted due to excessive demands by the kidnappers.

Unidentified gunmen had kidnapped seven members of Egypt’s security forces on May 16, compounding challenges facing the president, whose opponents accuse him of failing to restore security or revive a battered economy.

Mursi ruled out any negotiations with the captors on Monday in a meeting with the heads of some political parties, saying the “prestige of the state is protected,” the state-run Middle East News Agency reported.

A YouTube video appearing to show the seven male detainees urging Mursi to respond to their captors’ demands was circulated on social media and Egyptian news websites on Monday.

The authenticity of the video couldn’t be independently verified. The men were shown blindfolded with their hands tied behind their backs and said they had been tortured. They asked that Mursi and his defence minister meet the demands and release “Sinai political detainees.”

The state-run Ahram Gate website, which posted the video, cited an unidentified Interior Ministry official as saying the authorities were studying it to try to establish its authenticity. The head of the North Sinai security directorate didn’t answer phone calls seeking comment.

“There are no negotiations with criminals,” presidential spokesman Ehab Fahmi said in a phone interview with Al Nahar TV channel late yesterday. “All options are available.”

The presidency said in an earlier statement that some members of the Cabinet had discussed efforts to secure the release of the hostages and defend the “stature of the state”.

The Middle East News Agency, meanwhile, reported that guards at Al Awja crossing in central Sinai had announced a sit-in and the closing of the checkpoint that allows shipments between Egypt and Israel until the return of their kidnapped colleagues. Security officers also held a sit-in at Rafah port, locking entry and exit gates, the news agency said.

The Egyptian Al Masry Al Youm newspaper reported, citing officials who weren’t identified by name, that a large-scale military campaign will be carried out within the coming 48 hours in Sinai to rescue the captives.

“Northern Sinai has become a refuge for extremist groups,” said Emad Gad, deputy director of Al Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo. “If we cannot control it, it will become a source of constant security threats,” he said.