Egypt presidency faces hard choices over kidnapped soldiers: Analysts
Four days after kidnapping of seven soldiers in Egypt's restless Sinai
Peninsula, President Morsi appears to be mulling a number of unpalatable
options, analysts say
Nada Hussein Rashwan, Ahram Online, Sunday 19 May 2013
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/71843/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-presidency-faces-hard-choices-over-kidnapped.aspx

As the state continues to mull ways of securing the release of seven
Egyptian soldiers kidnapped in the Sinai Peninsula last Thursday, all
possible options appear to bear serious consequences, say local analysts.

"The presidency seems to have toughened its stance since Thursday and has
now announced its refusal to negotiate with the kidnappers," Gamal
Abdel-Gawad, former head of the Cairo-based Al-Ahram Centre for Political
and Strategic Studies, told Ahram Online.

"However," he added, "any step the presidency takes now would come at a
cost."

On Sunday, President Mohamed Morsi announced that "all options" remained
available to the state for securing the release of the kidnapped soldiers,
stressing that Egypt would "not be blackmailed" by the kidnapped soldiers'
captors.

He went on to deny the existence of "any differences" between Egyptian state
apparatuses regarding how to deal with the crisis, noting the "complete
coordination" currently underway between the ministries of interior and
defence.

Early Thursday, seven Egyptian security officers were kidnapped, including
one member of the armed forces, four port security officers and two state
security officers.

Abdel-Gawad does not rule out the possibility of disagreements within
decision-making circles over how to respond to the crisis.

"The fact that the presidency has not taken any concrete steps since
Thursday might reflect a degree of confusion over differing approaches to
the crisis on the part of the presidency and security officials,"
Abdel-Gawad said.

He added: "The president prefers not to launch a military operation against
the kidnappers, which could cost him the sympathy of hard-line Islamist
supporters."

Since the kidnapping on Thursday, Morsi has held emergency meetings with
Defence Minister Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim and
General Intelligence chief Raafat Shehata.

However, said Abdel-Gawad, the president "will likely face criticism for
giving in to lawlessness and chaos in Sinai in the event that he fails to
take firm action."

Morsi's Sunday meeting with political figures, he added, "might not only
signal that he is looking for a second opinion, but also that he may be
looking for someone with whom to share responsibility."

On Saturday, North Sinai Governor Abdel-Fatah Harhour told state news agency
MENA that he had received a telephone call from the president in which the
latter told him that the crisis had to be solved "peacefully, with restraint
and avoidance of bloodshed."

Harhour also said he was "following up" with a group of influential
Sinai-based personalities in an attempt to "persuade" the kidnappers to
release the soldiers unilaterally.

Following Thursday's kidnapping, a security source revealed that the
perpetrators had demanded the release of Sinai-based militants detained for
almost two years.

The militants were convicted of killing five security officers and one
civilian during a string of attacks in June/July 2011 on an Al-Arish city
police station and a North Sinai branch of the Bank of Alexandria. A total
of 25 individuals were charged in the case.

"If the president had agreed to offer amnesty to the convicted militants,
this would have deepened the existing crisis of confidence with the police
apparatus, since the convicts were sentenced for killing police officers,"
Abdel-Gawad said.

The restive Egypt-Gaza border region has witnessed an upswing in violence
over the course of the past few months, with frequent clashes between
security forces and militants.

Many Sinai residents seek revenge on security forces after years of
heavy-handed security policies under Mubarak-era interior minister Habib
El-Adly, who many accuse of failing to respect human rights and tribal
traditions.

On Friday, Egyptian police closed the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza
Strip to protest the kidnapping of their colleagues. On Sunday, police did
the same at the Ouga border crossing with Israel.

Last Thursday's kidnapping represents the first time for Egyptian security
personnel to be abducted by Sinai-based militants.