Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on Sunday ruled out negotiation with the captors of seven security personnel abducted in the restive Sinai peninsula last week, following the release of an Internet video showing the seven pleading for freedom.
"There are no negotiations with criminals and the awe of the State will be preserved," Morsi was quoted as saying in a statement carried by the official MENA news agency.
His refusal came shortly after the abductors released a video of their captives - three policemen and four soldiers - on YouTube. The video showed the seven blindfolded hostages pleading with the President to secure their release as early as possible.
One of the hostages said in the video that the kidnappers were demanding the release of detained Bedouin "political activists," including a Bedouin militant sentenced to death in connection with a 2011 attack on a police station in northern Sinai, in exchange for their freedom.
The seven security personnel were seized by unidentified gunmen last Thursday as they were traveling in minibuses in northern Sinai town of El-Arish. Egypt has since shut down border crossings with Gaza and Israel as part of its efforts to ensure that the hostages are not taken out of the country. State media reported earlier that Morsi's government has requested Bedouin tribal leaders to mediate the safe release of the seized security personnel.
Lawlessness in the rugged Sinai desert region bordering Israel spread as a result of the political instability caused by last year's anti-government unrest that eventually ousted President Hosni Mubarak. Until recently, Egypt only had a limited military presence in Sinai in accordance with a 1979 peace treaty under which Israel returned Sinai to Cairo's control.
Nevertheless, the Egyptian military launched a major anti-militant crackdown in Sinai after Islamist militants killed 16 Egyptian border guards in a raid on a security outpost in August 2012. since then, Egypt has maintained a strong military presence in the region.
However, several parts of northern Sinai are still controlled by armed Bedouin tribes, who frequently carry out kidnappings of foreign tourists and sabotage pipelines transiting Egyptian gas to Israel and Jordan.
The latest developments come amid unrest, insecurity and a crippling economic crisis in Egypt, which is currently divided between the Islamist parties that came to power in last year's election and the more secular Opposition.
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