They’re holding hostages in a Sinai resort but their grievances – and military capabilities – are not those of simple bandits:

Some 70 armed Bedouins are reportedly holding employees of a Sinai resort hostage, demanding over $650,000 in ransom for their safe release.

The incident likely stems from growing discontent over Bedouin exclusion from the new Egyptian government that took shape after Hosni Mubarak’s ouster last year. Last week, some Bedouin leaders protested “forged parliamentary elections” while threatening armed confrontation with those in power.

“We will not allow a parliament without Bedouin representation… forged through the alliance between the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and a certain Islamic party,” said one tribesman.

According to a CNN report, Bedouin militants may be in possession of a significant arms cache, including hundreds of surface-to-air missiles, which they allegedly smuggled out of Libya after the fall of Muammar Qaddafi.

“We have declared war against the military and will not wait for them to kill us all,” exclaimed one Bedouin leader.

Hundreds of surface to air missiles? That makes them major players in the future. Another report gives more detail on the Bedouin mindset:

Bedouins in Egypt claimed Hosni Mubarak’s regime has discriminated them for many years. After his ousting, the tribesmen began demanding greater representation in the Egyptian parliament and threatened to use force in order to achieve their political goals.

A CNN report last week quoted a Bedouin leader as saying that the “elections were forged and we are being oppressed once again; we are the ‘Jews of Sinai,'” he said, adding that the Bedouins will launch their own revolution “not in Tahrir Square, but in Sinai.”

Good thing we don’t drill for our own oil. It’s not like the middle east is unstable.