Scrap dealer arrested over mines

CAIRO: Security forces have arrested a Bedouin scrap dealer in the Sinai Peninsula after finding dozens of old mines in his house, security sources said on Saturday, but the man denied any connection to militants. The Sinai Peninsula has been the scene of a string of three deadly bomb attacks targeting popular Red Sea beach resorts over the past two years that have killed scores of people. The sources said security forces arrested the man, 23-year-old Mohamed Salem, on Friday in Al-Arish on Egypt s Mediterranean coast after finding 64 anti-personnel and anti-tank mines during a raid on his house. He was ordered detained for 10 days for interrogation. The sources added that the man had found the mines, which they said were left over from Egypt s wars with Israel, while scouring the desert for scrap metal. State news agency MENA reported that the man told police he was just trying to salvage metal from the mines, and that he had denied any connections to militant groups. Egypt has laid the blame for the Sinai bombings on local militants including Bedouin with militant Islamist views.