An Egyptian official source said on Wednesday that efforts are still underway to secure the release of11 foreign tourists and their Egyptian companions, who were kidnapped Friday in southern Egyptian desert near the border with Sudan.
The health condition of the abducted tourists and Egyptian tour guides and drivers is good, the Egyptian state MENA news agency quoted the source as saying on condition of anonymity.
However, the identity of the abductors remains unconfirmed, said the source, denying earlier media reports that the kidnappers are Egyptians.
The group of 11 foreign tourists, including five Germans, five Italians and a Romanian, and at least four Egyptians were kidnapped Friday by unidentified gunmen in the remote Sahara desert area in southern Egypt.
Egyptian TV reported that eight Egyptians, including two tour guides, four drivers, a tour leader and the owner of the travel company that organized the trip in the remote areas in Upper Egypt, were abducted.
Four masked gunmen attacked the group of tourists when they were riding in four cars in the remote desert area of Karak Talh in New Valley governorate near the borders with Sudan.
The tourists, along with the tour guides and drivers, were forced to head for the Sudanese territories at gunpoint from the Gilf al-Kebir area where they were captured.
Gilf al-Kebir, which is near the Egyptian borders with Libya and Sudan, is a giant plateau in the desert known for its prehistoric cave paintings featured in the 1996 film "The English Patient".
On Tuesday, a Sudanese government spokesman said Sudanese security forces had besieged a group of militants who had abducted the 19 hostages on the border strip between Sudan, Egypt and Libya.
Ali Yousef, spokesman for the Sudanese Foreign Ministry, told reporters that the abductors were spotted by the Sudanese security forces after entering the Sudanese land from Egypt.
"Now they (the abductors) are at the Jebel Aweinat area, 25 km south of the Sudanese border," the spokesman said.
On Wednesday, it was reported that Sudanese troops were still keeping watch over the kidnappers but did not take further action against them for fear that the move would endanger the hostages.
Earlier reports said the bandits had threatened to kill the captives if any attempt is made to reach them.
Well-informed sources said Tuesday that an Egyptian team had arrived in Sudan in order to follow up the ongoing efforts for the release of the foreign tourists and their Egyptian escorts.
Meanwhile, Egyptian officials said Wednesday that the German authorities are now leading the negotiation efforts for the release of the tourists, according to MENA.
But Germany has not confirmed that it is carrying out any talks about a ransom, only saying a crisis team has been formed to settle the incident.
Egyptian security sources said negotiations are taking place through phone calls with the owner of the tourist company, who was among the kidnapees and had called his German wife who lives now in Egypt and told her of the ransom asked by the abductors and the threat of execution.
The abductors had reportedly demanded a ransom of 6 million euros (8.8 million U.S. dollars), some said 15 million dollars, for the release of the hostages.
Although Egypt, a popular tourist destination, has witnessed a series of deadly attacks against tourists in recent years, abductions of foreign tourists for a ransom are extremely rare in the country.
In April, 2006, suicide bomb attacks hit the southern Sinai resort of Dahab and al-Gurah, killing at least 20 people, including six foreigners, and injuring some 90 others.
On July 23, 2005, three bomb explosions rocked Sharm el-Sheikh, a popular Red Sea resort located some 85 km south of Dahab, leaving at least 60 people dead.
On Nov. 17, 1997, about 60 tourists, including 56 foreigners, were killed by gunmen in the famed southern city of Luxor, some 700 km south of Cairo.
Tourism, along with the Suez Canal revenues, remittances from Egyptian expatriates and gas and oil exports, is one of Egypt's four key foreign currency earners.
Tourism in Egypt has recovered gradually after the authorities beefed up security measures to protect tourists, but the latest abduction incident may have a negative impact on it, especially the safari tours in remote desert areas.
Source:Xinhua
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