The Muslim Brotherhood government of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is moving tanks and heavy arms towards the northern Sinai towards possible all-out battle with a gang that kidnapped seven Egyptian security personnel four days ago.
Morsi has ruled out negotiating, saying there was “no room for dialogue with the criminals.” and that his government would not surrender to “blackmail.”
The abductors have not been identified but are thought to be jihadists who are demanding that Egypt release of political detainees.
The kidnap victims were seen on video, blindfolded and with their hands on their heads. One of them appealed to Morsi to agree to the captors’ demands.
The Sinai has fallen into anarchy the past several years, particularly since the beginning of the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Bedouin tribes and Al Qaeda and Hamas terrorists have carved out several areas of control in the Sinai, a major route for slave trade and trafficking in drugs and weapons.