Amnesty International (AI) has welcomed the release of an Egyptian Bedouin blogger and activist, who was held in detention for almost three years over protests against the demolition of thousands of homes in the Sinai Peninsula. Musaad Suliman Hassan Hussein, also known by his pen name Musaad Abu Fajr, was released from Abu Zaabal Prison, near Cairo, late Tuesday. "Musaad Abu Fajr's release is welcome news but the Egyptian authorities must now release all other prisoners of conscience, with many still languishing in administrative detention solely for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme of Amnesty International. Musaad Abu Fajr was arrested on 26 December 2007 following demonstrations led by Wedna Na'ish (We Want to Live) a Bedouin rights movement he co-founded. He was accused of "inciting others to protest", "resisting the authorities" and "assaulting public officers during the exercise of their duties". Egyptian authorities released three Bedouins activists late Tuesday, the latest in a series of steps designed to reduce local tension in Egypt's strategic Sinai Peninsula near its border with Israel and Gaza. The release of the three was a main demand of Bedouin tribal leaders who met Interior Minister Habib el-Adly in Cairo last month to explore ways of bringing calm to the area. "Since that meeting, Egypt has released almost 70 detainees, though Adly promised that those with security records or facing some criminal charges remain in custody. Those charged with possessing firearms would be prosecuted," a security source said. The three activists, Mosaad Abu Fajr, Ibrahim al-Arjani and Mohamed Isa al-Manai, were let go in the Sinai city of El-Arish, security sources said. They were prominent in organising protests among the 200,000 Bedouin living in northern Sinai. Abu Fajr, a blogger arrested in 2007, was being held in Borg el-Arab prison in Alexandria for writing about human rights violations in the Sinai, according to newspaper reports and human rights organisations. Police detained thousands of Bedouins, members of nomadic Arab tribes of Sinai, after a series of bombings at tourist resorts in south Sinai in 2004-2006.
