CAIRO: Egyptian President Muhammad Mursi appealed yesterday to the opposition for unity, in the face of criticism he is failing the revolution that brought him to power almost a year ago.

“To all those who love Egypt, to the opposition, those who love this country and care for its interests, let’s proceed together... help each other, love each other more... and move forward,” said Mursi.

The president was speaking after a ceremony to mark the release of seven security personnel kidnapped last week in the lawless Sinai peninsula. “Let’s look forward, not back. Let’s reconcile with those who seek reconciliation... I call on everyone to sit down together and dialogue, even if we disagree on points of view,” he said. Mursi, who hails from the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, is Egypt’s first elected president since the 2011 uprising that toppled his predecessor Hosni Mubarak, himself in power for 30 years.

Six Egyptian policemen and a border guard kidnapped by suspected militants in the volatile Sinai Peninsula last week were freed by their captors yesterday after successful mediation, the country’s military spokesman said.

The release, which followed a security buildup and a massive show of force by the military in northern Sinai, brought an end to a crisis that had stirred anger with the public and within the security forces and held the potential to embarrass both the military and President Mursi had it dragged on.

The captors freed the seven men early yesterday in the middle of the desert, and some were able later to speak to their families by telephone, according to officials and state TV. Military spokesman Col. Ahmed Mohammed Ali said on the army’s official Facebook page that the release came about as a “result of efforts by military intelligence, in cooperation with the honorable tribal leaders and Sinai residents.”

After their release, the men were flown in a military helicopter to an air force base in a Cairo suburb, where Mursi greeted them on the tarmac with a kiss on each cheek as they disembarked. Prime Minister Hesham Kandil and Defense Minister Abdel-Fatah Al-Sissi were also on hand to receive the men.

Mursi later thanked the armed forces, security agencies as well as the people of Sinai and their tribal chiefs for their efforts to resolve the standoff. He also vowed to hunt down the kidnappers, saying “there will be no going back on bringing the criminals to account.”

“This event will be a departure point for all of us to solve the problems of Sinai, its people and to develop Sinai,” he said.