EGYPT LAWLESSNESS DEEPENS AS ARMED CLASHES ERUPT IN NORTH AND SOUTH

From AIPAC:

EGYPT LAWLESSNESS DEEPENS AS ARMED CLASHES ERUPT IN NORTH AND SOUTH

A gang of robbers attacked villagers in southern Egypt on Tuesday, March 13, after being surprised by police while trying to steal railroad tracks for scrap metal, theAssociated Press reported. It was just one of a number of incidents illustrating the breakdown of law and order in Egypt following the uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak a year ago. Residents of Sanaa 320 miles south of Cairo said the robbers exchanged fire with police and took villagers as hostages. One resident was killed during the fighting. In another incident, a family vendetta left five dead in northern Cairo Tuesday, along with dozens of burnt down buildings and warehouses. While such violence is on the upswing all over Egypt, the Sinai desert has become especially lawless, with kidnappings, robberies and attacks on Egypt’s gas pipeline to Israel and Jordan becoming routine. On Tuesday in northern Sinai, 300 Bedouins armed with automatic rifles mounted on pickup trucks surrounded a camp of the international peace force. With their show of force, the Bedouins apparently were trying to press for prisoners held in connection with terrorist activities to be freed.