Fiji pulls some peacekeepers from Egypt amid security fears

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – Fiji says it's bringing home about 65 of the 300-plus peacekeepers it has stationed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and has closed remote bases there as the security situation deteriorates.

Commander Humphery Tawake, who heads the South Pacific nation's foreign peacekeeping force, said Sunday that Fiji was asked to scale down its presence by the leaders of the international peacekeeping force stationed in Egypt.

Tawake said the U.S. and Colombia are also planning to reduce troop numbers as the peacekeepers find themselves increasingly caught amid fighting between Egypt's armed forces and militants. He said the decisions on troop numbers were made at the headquarters of the Multinational Force and Observers group.

Tawake said five of Fiji's seven or eight remote Sinai outposts have been closed in the past couple of weeks.