Egypt arrests Islamists suspected of Israeli kidnap plot

Egyptian security forces have arrested at least 20 Islamists one day after Israel warned its citizens to leave the Egypt's Sinai peninsula at once, an Egyptian security official says.

A Bedouin practices falconry using bait attached to a falcon to catch other free falcons during the hunting season in central Sinai Reuters

“Between 20 and 25 Islamists were arrested this week in towns across the Sinai,” the official said, adding that “they are believed to adhere to an Islamist ideology.”

The official spoke on condition of anonymity.

The statement comes a day after Israel’s National Security Council said it had “updated and credible” information that a group called the Army of Islam was operating in the Sinai.

It called all its nationals in the peninsula, which is a cheap and popular tourist destination for Israelis to return home on Thursday. The Council warned that the Army of Islam was planning to abduct Israelis.

In October 2004, 34 people, most of them Israelis, were killed when suicide bombers blew up a hotel in the Sinai.