The death toll from last week's tribal clashes rose to 26 on Tuesday when 1 of the 56 injured died from burns, state-owned Al-Ahram quoted a health ministry official as saying. Al-Ahram also reported that tribes were attempting to extend the original three-day truce to one month to allow more time for reconciliation. The clashes erupted after an alleged fight between two students involving a case of sexual assault on 2 April. The next two days saw extensive clashes as peace talks devolved into gunfights. A number of houses were burned in the aftermath. Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed Al-Tayeb announced that a convoy from Cairo would travel to Aswan to oversee reconciliation talks after a three-day truce was announced on 7 April. Although security forces moved into Aswan when the clashes started, conflicts continued to rage. On Saturday the Ministry of Interior sent reinforcements to quell the ongoing bloodshed as Defence Minister Sedki Sohbi convened a meeting of security heads to discuss possible action in the Upper Egypt village. Sohbi also ordered all injured to be treated in army hospitals. Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb and Minister of Interior Mohamed Ibrahim travelled to Aswan Saturday in the hopes of ending the ongoing bloodshed, calling for reconciliation between the groups. On Sunday, in the wake of the three deaths, the Ministry of Interior announced that it had arrested 14 of the Bani Hilal tribe who were allegedly involved in the clashes. Army spokesman Colonel Ahmed Ali released a statement Saturday claiming that there were "signs of the involvement of elements of the Muslim Brotherhood in the strife between the two tribes".
