Arab Spring becomes Bedouin Summer; Bedouin trying their hand at occupation for cash.
There is this really looney tunes quality to this Ha’aretz report. Apparently, a group of Bedouin have taken over an almost empty resort and demanded a pay-offout to leave or their will trash the place and steal equipment.
A squad of Egyptian Bedouin on Sunday took control of a resort complex in Sinai, for which they are demanding a ransom of four million Egyptian pounds (approximately $662,000). According to reports by Egyptian media, the squad, armed with automatic weapons, took hold of “Aqua Sun”, situated about 30 kilometers south of Taba, Egypt.
There were no tourists at the site when the squad took it hostage, however, there were Egyptian staff members present. An Israeli source well aware of the situation and with ties to the Egyptian owners of the resort told Haaretz that there were only a handful of security guards present at the time, and that their lives are not in danger.
According to the reports, dozens of gunmen are threatening to destroy the site and steal the equipment if their demands are not met. Egyptian security forces have not prevented the action, claiming that they cannot act in the region without Israeli permission. The resort’s owner, who is currently hospitalized in Cairo, has called upon the Egyptian authorities to intercept, free the hostages, and bring an end to the episode.
The Egyptian army could certainly act, and there are several thousand Egyptian troops currently in the Sinai. I suspect this is a special joint mission between Egyptian troops and the Bedouin to shakedown a pay-offout from the hotel owner and who better to blame than the Joos.
