Sinai Activist Released

Following the recent confrontations between Egyptian security forces and bedouin in Sinai, the government has released some 69 Sinai bedouin who had been detained, including activist Mosaad Abu Fagr, who had been held for 30 months. Al-Masry al-Youm English has an interview with him here. His description of life in Egyptian prisons is not a pretty one.

Abu Fagr has been the subject of international human rights criticism and the release suggests a new sensitivity to the growing tensions between the security forces (the Interior Ministry) and the Sinai bedouin.