Morsi holds crisis talks over kidnappings

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on Thursday held crisis talks with his defence and interior ministers over the kidnapping of policemen and soldiers in Sinai, as negotiations were underway to secure their release. Egyptian security services were in talks with the kidnappers via mediators for the release of three Egyptian policemen and four soldiers held at gunpoint overnight in the Sinai peninsula, state media reported.
"There are huge efforts underway" for their release, said Samih Ahmed Bashadi, head of security in the province of North Sinai. "The security services are in contact with the respectable elders of North Sinai over the matter," Bashadi told state television in a call-in. According to the official MENA news agency, the kidnappers are demanding the release of a group of prisoners held at a police station in the North Sinai town of El-Arish.