Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — Egypt faces what could be an insurgency abduction campaign
in the Sinai Peninsula.

Security sources said Al Qaida-aligned insurgency militias have been
kidnapping Christians in central Sinai.

The sources said at least two Coptic merchants were abducted and held for ransom in separate incidents in mid-June.

“This could signal a need by the terrorists for quick cash,” a source said.

On June 14, abductors opened fire on a vehicle that contained a Coptic surgeon, identified as Wadei Ramses. Ramses was said to have been injured and abducted in El Arish. Hours later, the kidnappers demanded $1.4 million for his release.

Two days later, a Christian merchant was captured in El Arish, the
capital of the North Sinai province. Gemal Shenouda, also a Copt, was
whisked away near his home in daylight.

Nobody claimed responsibility for the abductions. The sources identified
Ansar Beit Maqdis as the leading insurgency militia in Sinai and the African
mainland.

Egypt’s 2nd and 3rd armies have been cooperating to destroy the
insurgency infrastructure in northeastern Sinai. On June 17, the 2nd Army
helped demolish eight tunnels that connected Sinai to the Gaza Strip while
the 3rd Army seized three tons of drugs. Egypt has claimed to have destroyed
1,725 tunnels over the last year.

  Al Qaida militias seek quick cash from adbuctions of Christians in Sinai, Ansar Beit Maqdis, Coptic merchants, El Arish