Stork ‘arrested’ by Egypt police

POLICE “arrested” a stork in Egypt after claims it had been flying along the Nile with a surveillance device or bomb strapped to its back.

However, they were left with red faces when it was discovered it was a simple tracking device used by French scientists to monitor the giant bird’s movements.

Police had been called in after a fisherman spotted the stork on the Nile and saw the electronic device strapped to its back. He feared the bird could be being used by an undercover agent during the disruption caused by demonstrations in the wake of President Morsi’s removal from office.

The man thought the device could be a bomb or a surveillance unit and captured the bird.

He handed it in at the police station in Qena, 450km south of Cairo, where officers tried to find out what the device was. A local vet examined it and said it was a tracker device used by French scientists to track migratory birds.

Security scares have been widespread in recent months, with one security guard telling police he had captured a pigeon carrying microfilm.
Photo: Kadellar