EL-ARISH, Egypt, Nov 20 (Reuters) - A bedouin tribesman in northern Sinai was shot dead on Friday in fighting with police, a security source said.

After the shooting, tribesmen seized two policemen, one of whom was still being held, the source said.

Northern Sinai, home to about 200,000 bedouin, has been the scene of frequent tension after an increase in unemployment. Residents complain they have been passed over for jobs in the area's thriving tourism and petroleum sectors.

Ubaid al-Jabbar Zaidan was killed after bedouin surrounded a police patrol returning from the village of Baloutha, 50 km (30 miles) east of the Suez Canal, where police had arrested several men on felony charges, the source said.

Dozens of bedouin began throwing stones at police in an attempt to free the men when shooting broke out, the source added.

Tribesmen later seized two policemen working in the area. They released one but were demanding police turn over the arrested men in exchange for the second.

A member of parliament for the area, Radwan Sarhan, told Reuters a man and a woman were injured in the fighting. (Writing by Patrick Werr; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

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