An Egyptian parliamentarian made an urgent request for the Interior Ministry in Cairo to address the issue of weapons smuggling in Sinai, after Egyptian security forces this week made a huge seizure of illegally smuggled arms bound for Sinai from Libya.
MP Mustafa Bakri warned that increasing weapons smuggling in Sinai puts Egyptian national security at risk, Egypt's official
Al-Ahram newspaper reported. Bakri demanded the Interior Ministry explain the state of Sinai's security, a vast arid region in northeastern Egypt which has become increasingly lawless since the overthrow of president Hosni Mubarak.
He also demanded the ministry divulge what measures Cairo is taking to reestablish law and order in Sinai, according to the
Al-Ahram report.
Earlier this year, Israel allowed Egypt to advance troops into areas of Sinai previous forbidden to Egypt's army as per the peace accords the two nations signed in 1979 amid fears that terrorists planning to attack Israelis were exploiting the unstable security situation. Egypt insists it has the peninsula - which had long been a boon for Egyptian tourism - under control.
