Salafists prepare to mediate in Sinai

Mohamed al-Zawahiri, prominent jihadist-Salafist leader and brother of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, has announced Egyptian Salafists willingness to intervene in the ongoing hostage crisis in the Sinai Peninsula. Three Egyptian policemen and four soldiers were kidnapped in Sinai on Thursday as they travelled between Cairo and Arish to see family for the holidays. Salafists would offer compromises to those currently holding the kidnapped officials, al-Zawahiri said. Al-Zawahiri has also  suggested the kidnap is a response to the Egyptian interior ministry’s stance on Islamists living inside the territory, pointing towards the recently alleged state-approved torture of jihadist Ahmed Abu-Shitta. Salafists would resume demonstrations against security forces, he added. Local Bedouin tribal spokesman Sheikh Abdel-Moniem el-Refaie has meanwhile announced that soldiers would be returned to their families within the next 24 hours.