CAIRO: Two videos, one of three dead Bedouins found in the desert and another of soldiers confessing to police torture, have spread like wildfire throughout Sinai and fueled anger. During one of the clashes last week between Bedouins and security forces, three Bedouins were killed after a police station had been held hostage. The bodies were later found half buried in the desert. The Tagammu party in Al-Arish held a viewing of the footage, which was taken by the Bedouins themselves. The other clip is of the policemen (at the time captives of the Bedouin) being interrogated by the Bedouins. Asked whether they torture people, the soldiers finger their commanding officer, claiming that it is him who tortures detainees. Bedouins have often complained that they are unfairly treated by security forces. Officials counter that many of the Bedouin are involved in smuggling activities - including the smuggling of people - and the digging of tunnels beneath the border. Journalist and Tagammu party member Mustapha Singer said that a feud had ensued between the Ministries of Defense and Interior over the leakage of this footage, with each blaming the other for its spread. The defense and national security committee in the People's Assembly held a hearing Tuesday to discuss the latest troubles in Sinai. Assistant of the Minister of Interior for Legal Affairs Ibrahim Hamad told the committee that certain criminal elements from the Bedouins had instigated this chaos to distract security forces from their smuggling activities across the border. He added that they managed to stir up people's feelings with false accusations of severe security crackdowns on them although some of them were wanted for charges of criminality. Hamad said that the security presence on Sinai was now on high alert and that the situation currently was reassuring. He did thank the Bedouin tribes, prominent amongst them the Tarabeen, for playing an effective role in countering criminal activities. Sinai s Bedouins were angered by the death of a member of the Tarabeen tribe after he turned to drive away from a police checkpoint. Hamad said that guns and ammunition were found in the vehicle. The shootings last week triggered a mass wave of violent protest by Bedouins all along the border, as they burnt tires and discharged gunshots. At the parliamentary session, North Sinai Governor Ahmed Abdel-Hameed told the committee that the paucity of development in North and Central Sinai was a major reason for the onset of troubles and the creation of the tunnels burrowed beneath the border. A major impediment to development in the area according to Abdel-Hameed was the prevalence of a false belief on the part of the Bedouins that the land of Sinai belongs solely to them. He added that the only real solution was to implement a comprehensive development plan in Sinai, especially in remote areas far from the coastal cities. A conference that the Bedouin tribes had scheduled for last Monday was delayed interminably, the reason given that the tribes needed more time to coordinate a plan of action. After the hearing, Abdel-Hameed denied that he had accused Israel of being behind the latest troubles with the Bedouin. The governor claimed that comments he had made to the Defense and National Security committee in the People s Assembly had been misconstrued in press reports. Yet according to Singer, the governor did confirm his belief that Israel and the Bedouins were working in tandem at a council meeting in Sinai Wednesday morning and claimed he had the pictures to prove it.
