ARISH, Egypt: Stability and security have returned to the North Sinai city of Arish with the arrival of police and military reinforcements. The military forces are coordinating based on the available information about the persons who attacked the Arish police station in Sadat Square, leaving five dead and 19 wounded, according to Gen. Saleh al-Masry, the commander of the North Sinai security department. Al-Masry also said that investigations are being held with some elements believed to belong to groups with extremist ideologies in Sinai. It is believed that the same groups targeted the gas station in Sheikh Zowayed and elsewhere, said al-Masry. There is a list of 100 names of persons belonging to extremist groups and others belonging to extremist Shia groups, who are armed and believed to have ties with Lebanon's Hezbollah. All these groups were going to be arrested before Egypt's January 25 Revolution, according to al-Masry. The security sources believe that elements from Al-Qaeda are involved in the latest Arish incidents, as well as the Islamic Army based in Gaza. There will be intensive security campaigns to arrest these elements in Sinai, according to security sources. Bedouins will also be used in these security campaigns, particularly because the Islamic Army aims to turn Sinai into an Islamic Emirate. All political parties have condemned the Arish clashes.
