CAIRO: Egyptian police said they found a decapitated head in Sinai yesterday of a man kidnapped by militants, reportedly for his role in assassinating an extremist.

Bedouin tribal sources said the head found in the Muqatta area in north Sinai belonged to Manazil Bereikat from the same tribe of an extremist killed in a mysterious explosion near the Israeli border on Aug. 26. At the time, witnesses said the militant, Ibrahim Ouda Bereikat, died in a blast as he tried to fire a rocket into Israel.

A Bedouin source, requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, said the militants behind Manazil’s kidnapping accused him and several other men of planting a booby trap to assassinate Ouda Bereikat.

Bereikat was believed to have taken part in several rocket attacks against Israel. The militants, and his family members, believe his assassins worked with Israel and said Manazil should not be given a Muslim burial.