CAIRO Egyptian Bedouin on Thursday called for an independent governmental authority other than the Ministry of Interior to take the brunt of managing clashes and disputes between them and the police. "We, the Bedouin of Sinai, call for an authority to deal with us other than the Ministry of Interior, which lost its credibility and has become a partner in the clashes," said Moussa el-Daleh, one of the Bedouin who met yesterday for talks on recent trouble on the border peninsula. El-Daleh added in a statement, read at the press conference, that they wanted the release of all Bedouin who had been detained without charges, including novelist Mossad Abou Fagr, activists Yehia Abou Nosseira, Ibrahim el-Arjani and Eissa el-Menei. "We also ask for a re-investigation into all of the cases fabricated against the Bedouin, a fair trial for the policemen who were involved in killing innocent Bedouin, and developing our Bedouin communities," el-Daleh said. Police in North Sinai prevented journalists from attending the conference, which was held in the central Sinai village of Mahdia. Some reporters were stopped in el- Arish and Al-Salam Bridge police checkpoints. El-Daleh called for the tribes' leaders to be elected instead of being appointed by the Ministry of Interior, with which the Bedouin are at odds. "We have been denied entry into the conference site by policemen, who deployed armed cars and hundreds of anti-riot police on the way to Mahdia village," a reporter for the Qatari news TV Al-Jazeera reported. The Bedouin attending the conference asked for a new shape to relations between them and the police. "Deploying this number of armed vehicles indicates there would be a new campaign to arrest more Bedouin. This might lead to fatal clashes," they warned in their statement. High-profile Bedouin had held a meeting with Minister of Interior Habib el-Adly on Tuesday, in a bid to defuse tensions after a surge in clashes between security forces and tribesmen. "The private and public interests of people of Sinai is a major focus of the political leadership of the State," Interior Minister Habib el-Adly said in a statement after meeting the Bedouin delegates in Cairo. “The ambitious plan for the development of Sinai requires the element of security to give investors the incentive to invest,” added the statement. On Thursday, some of the tribal leaders who met with el-Adly, boycotted the conference, saying they were satisfied with the outcome of their meeting with the Minister. "He promised a new shape for the relations between us and the police. This conference could spoil this relation," Nasr Ayyadah, a spokesman for Sinai's biggest Bedouin tribe Mezinah said. The Bedouin, nomadic Arab tribesof the Sinai, have often had a troubled relationship with the State, which has worsened since the authorities rounded up hundreds of young Bedouins following explosions at Sinai resorts five years ago. Clashes have become more frequent in recent weeks as the authorities search for Bedouin fugitives sentenced in absentia for weapons possession, smuggling and other charges, including some who escaped in an ambush on a prison vehicle in February. Bedouins complain about neglect by the Egyptian Government and say tough economic times have led more of their kin to resort to smuggling and other criminal activities. On Monday, Bedouins and police exchanged fire along a road leading to the Quja crossing into Israel after Egyptian police searched Bedouin homes earlier in the day.
