Israel-Egypt border (Archives)
Photo: Reuters
Egypt police kill Bedouin 'arms smuggler'
Driver believed to be concealing weapons aboard truck destined for Gaza shot dead by Cairo border patrol after attempting to flee
Egyptian police shot and killed a Bedouin in north Sinai on Saturday and seized munitions concealed in his truck believed to be destined for Gaza, a security official said.
"A Bedouin was shot and killed during an exchange of fire between police and armed men in north Sinai," the official told AFP.
Police in el-Arish ordered a truck to stop to be searched, but the driver tried to speed away only to crash into a police van.
Four Bedouin jumped out in attempt to get away on foot and one of them died in the shootout that ensued, the official said.
"Police found a quantity of munitions in the truck and have managed to capture the other three Bedouin," the official said.
In a separate incident, a security official said a Bedouin man from north Sinai and a driver were arrested in Cairo with $2 million dollars they said was to be delivered to Hamas through a tunnel to Gaza.
Israel has frequently accused Egypt of not doing enough to halt smuggling through its border with Gaza.
The Jewish State has blockaded Gaza since June 2007 when the Islamist Hamas movement seized control of the territory from forces loyal to Western-backed Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
