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Foreign tourists seized in Egypt

by Sanjay Jha | September 22, 2008 at 03:31 am

411 views | 22 Recommendations | 10 comments

Egyptian security sources report group of 10 to 15 tourists abducted in south of country. Egyptian Foreign Ministry confirms five Italian tourists kidnapped. The tourist belong to Israel and Italy. There is likelyhood that abducted group of tourist had been taken to Sudan. The Egyptian and Italian foreign ministries confirmed that five Italian tourists were abducted.

Five Italian tourists have been kidnapped in Egypt, along with other foreigners, Italy's government says.
"Foreign Minister Franco Frattini... is following the kidnapping in Egypt of a group of foreigners including five Italians," the foreign ministry said.
Reuters news agency cited Egyptian security sources saying 10-15 people were taken in Aswan in southern Egypt - possibly including two Israelis.
However there was no confirmation of this report.
The Italian foreign ministry said it had set up a crisis unit to deal with the incident.
It also said it was in contact with the other foreign ministries involved - though it did not say which they were.
Kidnaps of foreigners in Egypt are very uncommon.

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dunkelberg

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 05:59 on September 22nd, 2008

Details on how the 15 were captured or were travling are not available. In Cairo, at least, tourist tour group buses are escorted by police and carry armed guards.

At least 15 people, including 11 foreign tourists, have been abducted in Egypt, according to the Italian foreign ministry and Egyptian security sources.

The Italian foreign ministry confirmed on Monday that at least five Italian nationals were among those taken in the south of the country.

The Egyptian tourism minister said that the other people seized were five Germans, four Egyptians and one Romanian.

Reports say the kidnappers may have taken the tourists across the border into Sudan.

"The last [time]something like this happened was in 1997, but the country's south has been very safe and every tourist convoy is escorted by policemen." [Al Jazeera's Amr el-Kahk]

In 1997, at least 58 people were killed when armed men opened fire on foreign tourists in the ancient temple city of Luxor, just north of Aswan.

More recently there was a spate of attacks in resorts on the Red Sea in the Sinai peninsula.

In April 2006, 20 people were killed in bomb blasts in Dahab, while 70 were killed in Sharm el-Sheikh in July 2005 and 34 people were killed in Taba in October 2004.

SOLARLIFE

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 06:07 on September 22nd, 2008

Sanjay Jha, I like this story. It's good stuff. I love Egypt, Luxor, all destroyed by fundamentalist gangsters looking for money under the flag of religion, just gangsters

Barbara McPherson

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 08:26 on September 22nd, 2008

Sanjay Jha, I like this story. It's good stuff. This looks like an attempt to shut down the tourist income that visitors bring.

World_Groove

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 08:58 on September 22nd, 2008

perhaps an attempt to change Government policy and allegiance by hitting them in the pocket book.

rumana husain

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 09:16 on September 22nd, 2008

Sanjay Jha, I like this story. It's good stuff. this is so sad.

LotusFlower

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 12:40 on September 22nd, 2008

Sanjay Jha, I like this story. It's good stuff. Now FREE!

Sidsel Oba

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 13:12 on September 22nd, 2008

Sanjay Jha, I like this story. It's good stuff.

It's also a very tragic story.Sorry for the tourist's. I was in Egypt in 2002, in Hurgada. From there to Cairo and Luxor through the desert with bus. Always with police escort. So that time it was safe. Lucky for us.I spent two weeks there and it was a marwelous trip. Sorry I didn't have a digital camera at that time. but I have lot's of nice photos on paper. It was an unforgetable holiday !

arunroy

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 22:36 on September 22nd, 2008

Sanjay Jha, I like this story. It's good stuff.

chowdawg

at 08:39 on September 29th, 2008

Update: The hostages have been freed.

Eleven European tourists and eight Egyptians have been freed unharmed and half of their kidnappers have been killed.

The 19 were liberated in what Egyptian media called a "rescue and recovery operation," although officials gave scant and contradictory details on how authorities secured the release or how the hostage-takers were killed.

The Egyptian government and political analysts have said the kidnappers did not appear to have political motives. Tour operators say acts of banditry in the area from which the hostages were snatched have been on the rise.

One Egyptian security source speaking on customary condition of anonymity said Egyptian forces had ambushed and attacked the kidnappers around dawn on Monday, and that 150 people had taken part in the operation to free the hostages.