Four gunmen fatally shot a man who was selling alcohol in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula Sunday, and security officials are pointing the finger at Islamist militants.
Rami Ahmed, 28, was killed at a bar on a main road near El-Arish, The Columbus Dispatch reports.
“We are still in the early stages of the investigation but it is likely that Islamic hardliners were behind the incident,” one of the security officials said, according to The Jerusalem Post.
According to reports, El-Arish is an area where extremism has heightened President Hosni Mubarak’s regime was toppled more than two years ago. Radical groups have exploited the power vacuum in the area to attack both Egyptian and Israeli targets, the Dispatch reports.
The Washington Times reported in February that Egypt’s Islamic government was cracking down on alcohol sales, by not issuing any more alcohol permits and not renewing existing ones. The government tried to raise taxes on alcohol in December but backed down after receiving heavy criticism.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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