Security authorities at South Sinai evacuated hundreds of people working at construction sites near the location where Arab leaders will stay while attending the Arab Economic Summit next Wednesday at Sharm el-Sheikh.

Six-hundred officers from all over the republic have been engaged to secure the summit, which will be opened by President Hosni Mubarak.

Scores of building works have been halted until the summit concludes. Security has been ramped up at the governorate’s entry points. Temporary laborers were denied entry.

An engineer supervising work at a construction site said that security agents had evacuated more than 50 percent of the laborers. He added that contractors are afraid to complain to authorities about the delay.

Ali Mohamed, a health club owner, said that his colleagues were evacuated as soon as they went out shopping.