CAIRO - Current incidents of kidnapping are spreading fear and consternation among Egyptian families. In the early days of the January 25 revolution, policemen were suddenly withdrawn from police stations on January 28, resulting in a state of unrest and chaos prevailing in Egypt with thugs and criminals benefiting from the security vacuum. In April, gunmen abducted Zeina Effat el-Sadat, the 12-year-old grandniece of the late Egyptian leader Anwar el-Sadat. But they released her nearly 24 hours later after $5 million ransom was paid by her family. There has been a surge in violence over the past weeks. In the aftermath of the January 25 revolution, there have been 40 incidents of kidnapping recorded, according to statistics on this crime compiled by the Public Security Department, which is affiliated to the Ministry of the Interior. General Sayyed Shafiq, the Deputy Director of Public Security's Central Zone, has claimed that “police officers have succeeded in recovering all of the kidnapped children. These cases of kidnapping are rife because of the chaos that Egyptians are suffering nowadays.” Shafiq added: “In some incidents, when a girl has disappeared in an apparent kidnapping, she had secretly agreed with a boyfriend to extort money from her father by demanding a ransom for her return.” According to him, most of the kidnappers have no criminal records. However, Ahmed Magdi Hegazi, a professor of sociology, told the semi-official Al-Ahram newspapaer: “Escaped prisoners, outlaws and thugs have spread fear and alarm in society [since 28 January] and have kidnapped children, aspiring to get money through the ransoms.” He added that in most cases, children were being kidnapped to be used in criminal gangs, such as beggars, thieves or drug dealers, or for sexual exploitation including prostitution. Hegazi stressed that parents are responsible for looking after their children: “They should not leave their children unattended.” A Public Security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, disclosed that most kidnapping cases occur in Greater Cairo governorates. The kidnappers, he continued, focus on wealthy figures and in the majority of cases they either have some kind of relationship with the victim's parents or are their relatives. Parents must not be overconfident in others.
