Egypt fires intelligence chief over Sinai attack

Source: AP-Excite

By HAMZA HENDAWI and SARAH EL DEEB

CAIRO (AP) - Egypt's president fired his intelligence chief on Wednesday for failing to act on an Israeli warning of an imminent attack days before militants stormed a border post in the Sinai Peninsula and killed 16 soldiers.

The dismissal, which followed Egyptian airstrikes against Sinai militants, also marked a bold attempt by the Islamist leader to deflect popular anger over the attack. It pointed to a surprising level of cooperation with the powerful military leaders who stripped the presidency of significant powers just before President Mohammed Morsi took office June 30.

In a major shake-up, Morsi also asked Defense Minister Hussein Tantawi to replace the commander of the military police, a force that has been heavily used to combat street protests since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak 18 months ago. Rights activists have accused the military police of brutality against protesters.

Morsi also fired the commander of his presidential guards and ordered new chiefs for security in Cairo and the police's central security, a large, paramilitary force often deployed to deal with riots.

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Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20120808/DA0HD6O80.html

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In this Tuesday Aug. 7, 2012 file photograph, relatives of an Egyptian soldier mourn during the funeral of one of 16 soldiers killed in an attack over the weekend by suspected militants in Sinai in Cairo, Egypt. After decades of neglect and with the collapse of government authority the past 18 months, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula has become fertile ground for Islamic extremists. Militant groups have taken root, carrying out attacks against neighboring Israel and now turning their guns against Egypt’s military as they vow to set up an Islamic state. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)