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| Africa: North |
| Sinai Attack Suspects' Kin Protest Detention |
| 2005-04-10 |
| Armed with food and blankets to see them through the night, some 150 men and women gathered in the town of El-Arish on Friday to begin an open-ended strike in protest against the mass detention of their relatives, held in connection with last year's terror attacks in the Sinai. The protesters have demonstrated every Friday for weeks now, calling on the government to release the detainees who are believed to number 2,400. The government has refused to say how many people are in custody, or whether they've been charged. The demonstrators gathered at the headquarters of a leftist opposition party in the northern Sinai town of El-Arish, and said they won't leave until authorities release the prisoners arrested in the wake of Oct. 7 hotel bombings in Taba and Ras Shitan that killed 34 people. They also said that they will start a hunger strike by today. The demonstrators complain that their relatives continue to be detained despite an announcement last week from the country's prosecutor general that two men will be tried in connection with the attacks; they argue the rest should be set free. |
| Posted by:Fred |