Egyptian police say kill Sinai militant leader

CAIRO, May 9 (Reuters) Egyptian police today killed the leader of a group behind attacks which killed 19 people in the Sinai peninsula last month, security sources said.

Nasr Khamis el-Milahi had opened fire on police in the town of El Arish in northern Sinai, they said. Police returned fire and killed him.

Police arrested his aide, Mohammed Abdullah Alyan, who was wounded in the gun battle. The authorities had named Milahi as the leader of a group called Tawhid wal Jihad which they blame for a series of attacks in Sinai since October 2004.

The Sinai attacks, including bombs at Dahab, have killed at least 117 people. The Red Sea resort of Taba and beach camps further south were bombed in October 2004 and Sharm el-Sheikh was hit in July 2005.

Men identified by the authorities as members of the group have come mainly from El Arish, a poor town on the Mediterranean coast.

The police last week killed six men wanted over the bombings in gun battles in northern Sinai.

REUTERS OM KN1556