Egyptian security forces captured on Sunday the leader of an al-Qaeda-inspired cell in the Sinai peninsula that was behind attacks on police and on a gas pipeline that delivers fuel to Israel and Jordan, a senior security official said. According to the AP, Mohammed Eid Muslih Hamad, also known as "El-Tihi", was arrested without resistance in the northern Sinai town of el-Arish.
El-Tihi was also being investigated in connection to an August series of attacks into southern Israel, the official said.
An Egyptian official said an army unit surprised el-Hiti at his hideout in a seaside vacation house at dawn, forcing him to surrender without firing.
Sunday's arrest took place one day after police detained Abdel-Halim Hassan Heneidi, another militant leader, also in el-Arish.
