Police Kill Five Suspected Muslim Militants

Security forces killed five suspected Muslim militants in a series of raids Saturday, bringing the death toll to 17 in four days of clashes in southern Egypt.

Police raided a hideout in Beni Suef, 60 miles south of Cairo. They killed Khaled Hamdy Kareem, wanted for the slayings of two Germans and two Egyptians.

Earlier Saturday, two militants died in a police raid in the village of Beni Mohammed in el-Minya province, 130 miles south of Cairo.

The raids were part of a police crackdown in southern Egypt.