Dozens of Bedouins blocked the road between Arish and central Sinai Monday to protest court verdicts given in absentia and the imprisonment of Sinai residents.
The protesters lit fires and put bricks and stones in the road to stop traffic. The demonstration also halted work in a nearby industrial zone as authorities negotiated with protest leaders to reopen the road.
Such protests are not uncommon. Earlier this month, dozens of residents from Sheikh Zuwayed, a town east of Arish, blocked the international highway to Rafah with bricks, stones and sand, bringing traffic to a stop. They demanded the release of Sinai prisoners in Egyptian and Israeli prisons and also called for court verdicts handed down in absentia to be dropped.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
