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| Africa North |
| Egypt Troops Sweep Sinai before Possible Rescue Op |
| 2013-05-22 |
| [An Nahar] Egyptian troops and coppers began sweeps of north Sinai on Tuesday ahead of a possible showdown with heavily armed gunnies who kidnapped seven security personnel, officials said. A senior interior ministry official told Agence La Belle France Presse a "campaign has been going on for half an hour", while a policeman taking part in the operation told AFP that security forces shot it out with gunnies in a village in the restive peninsula. The operations were part of a large security sweep and not a rescue attempt, said the interior ministry official. Prime Minister Hisham Qandil said there were "intense efforts on all fronts for the return of the captured conscripts safely," the official MENA news agency reported. The kidnappers, who kidnapped the conscripts last week, are heavily armed with SAM anti-aircraft missiles and heavy machine guns, interior minister Mohamed Ibrahim said. He said there were no negotiations with the kidnappers, who demand the release of tossed in the clink Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! Bedouin bully boys, but tribal leaders have asked for some time to persuade the gunnies to release the hostages. |
| Posted by:Fred |