CAIRO: Kidnappers believed to be tribesmen abducted 11 foreign tourists and eight Egyptians during an adventure safari to one of Egypt’s most remote sites deep in the Sahara Desert. The kidnappers were demanding millions of dollars in ransom, officials said yesterday. The German, Italian and Romanian tourists were visiting the Gilf El-Kabir, an isolated desert plateau famed for its prehistoric cave paintings.
Government spokesman Magdi Rady said it was feared the kidnappers had taken their captives into Sudan.
Egyptian Tourism Minister Zoheir Garana said the tour company that organized the trip was mediating negotiations with the kidnappers, who were demanding up to $6 million in ransom. He said the German government — not the Egyptian — was involved in the talks. Germany’s Foreign Ministry would not confirm, saying only that it has formed a “crisis team” on the abduction.
The group of five Germans, five Italians and one Romanian were seized Friday along with their Egyptian guides and drivers while camping near the Sudanese border, Garana said.
The abduction was only discovered because the Egyptian owner of the tour company, who was on the trip, was able to call his German wife by mobile phone, Garana told state television. The group included eight Egyptians, he said.
ld state television. The group included eight Egyptians, he said.
