Morsi rejects dialogue with kidnappers of soldiers

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi stressed Sunday that there would be no dialogue with the kidnappers of Sinai soldiers, official news agency MENA reported. "No dialogue with criminals," said Morsi when meeting with heads of several political parties to discuss efforts to release the seven soldiers kidnapped early Thursday by militants in North Sinai. Morsi stressed the necessity of comprehensive economic and social development in Sinai as one of the means of combating growing extremism in the peninsula. On Thursday, a group of militants, believed to be members of the hardline Jihadist group, abducted seven recruits, three from the police and four from the military, in North Sinai's Green Valley, some 20 km away from the governorate's capital city Arish. On Saturday, a military intelligence source told Xinhua that the Egyptian authorities halted negotiations with the kidnappers due to their "excessive demands." The kidnappers demanded a swap deal to release some Jihadists and others involved in previous terrorist attacks in return for the seven soldiers, the source said, noting that the Sinai military and police have decided to free the abducted by force.