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| Africa Horn | ||
| Sudan troops besiege kidnappers' desert hideout | ||
| 2008-09-25 | ||
| Sudanese forces were laying siege on Wednesday to a remote desert hideout where bandits are holding 19 people captive, including European tourists, but said they would not storm the area. The tourists, along with Egyptian drivers, guides and a guard, were snatched by masked gunmen on Friday during a desert safari to view prehistoric art around Gilf el-Kabir in southwestern Egypt and then taken to Sudan. A Sudanese official said the hostages were alive and that negotiations were continuing with the kidnappers, who have reportedly demanded a ransom of up to 15 million dollars. Sudan said on Tuesday its forces "are besieging the area," a no-man's land straddling the Sudanese, Libyan and Egyptian borders.
An Egyptian security official told AFP the kidnappers were "most likely Chadian" after Sudan said they were Egyptian nationals. Sudan has said the group is being held 25 kilometers (17 miles) inside its territory at Jebel Uweinat, or mountain of small springs. Egypt, which has sent a team to Sudan to try to secure the release of the hostages, has said the hostages are in good health and have enough food and water. The tourism ministry in Egypt, which relies heavily on earnings from foreign visitors, has said it was "an act of banditry not of terrorism."
Sudan has authorized Egypt to use aircraft to "chase the kidnappers of tourists," the Sudan Media Center, which is close to the intelligence services, reported on Wednesday, without elaborating. | ||
| Posted by:Fred |