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Egyptian police kill Bedouin tribesman in shootout
11 Apr 2009 09:31:27 GMT
 Source: Reuters
EL-ARISH, Egypt, April 11 (Reuters) - Egyptian police shot and killed a man on Saturday in an exchange of fire with armed Bedouin men on a truck in north Sinai, security sources said.

Two police vehicles tried to stop the truck, but it rammed one of the vehicles and police opened fire, prompting Bedouin in the truck to fire back, a security source said .

One Bedouin man was killed in the exchange, and police were searching for three others who escaped after abandoning the truck, the source added.

Similar incidents of police killing Bedouin men have in the past escalated into full-blown hostilities between armed tribesmen and police, with violent protests and attacks on police and police outposts.

Security sources said the truck had no licence plates and contained stolen electrical cables and ammunition. Police have called in Bedouin tribal elders to try to identify the dead man, they added.

Northern Sinai is home to about 200,000 formerly nomadic Bedouin. It is one of Egypt's poorest areas and unemployment is high. Bedouin say they are shut out of jobs in the lucrative tourism and petroleum sectors in Sinai.

Tensions between north Sinai Bedouin and police have never entirely subsided since Egyptian police detained thousands of young Sinai men several years ago when a series of bombings shook south Sinai's tourist resorts. Most of them were freed without charge after months in custody, but many Bedouin complain of police harassment and abuse. (Writing by Aziz El-Kaissouni, editing by Tim Pearce)


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An Egyptian woman sells chickens at El-Matariya market in Cairo, March 26, 2009. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Egypt has had the third largest number of cases of bird ...


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Last updated:Sat Apr 11 09:33:39 2009