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Two US tourists kidnapped by gunmen in Egypt Two US tourists kidnapped by gunmen in Egypt
(about 2 hours later)
Gunmen in Egypt's Sinai peninsula have kidnapped two American women in an apparent attempt to hold them for ransom, security sources said. Bedouin gunmen intercepted a tourist minivan and kidnapped two female American tourists and their Egyptian guide at gunpoint near St Catherine's monastery in the Sinai peninsula, the region's security chief said.
Security in the isolated desert region has deteriorated since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak last February. South Sinai's Red Sea coast is a major tourism hub for Egypt. The daylight abduction along a busy highway was a new blow to Egypt's tourism industry, which has been heavily affected by the unrest following last year's uprising that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak.
The two tourists were among a party of five travelling from Saint Catherine's monastery in central Sinai to Sharm el-Sheikh when a vehicle carrying men armed with machine guns stopped their vehicle, the sources said. Four masked gunmen also stopped the vehicle of two Italians working for a local food factory in the nearby city of Suez, taking their car, more than €10,000 (£8,300) and their laptops, the director of the company Mohammed Antar said. The attackers let the Italians go.
The gunmen first took all the tourists' money and valuables and then, as an apparent afterthought, grabbed the two women, forced them into their vehicle and fled into the mountains, the security officials said. Major General Mohammed Naguib, the head of security for southern Sinai, said the abductors of the American tourists were driving a sedan and a pickup truck and sped away into the mountains after seizing the two women, who were returning from the monastery to the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Two army and police search parties have gone into the area to try to track them down, the officials have said. The attackers were demanding the release of a number of fellow tribesmen arrested this week on drug trafficking and robbery charges. Tribal leaders were mediating efforts to free the tourists, ages 60 and 65, and their guide, Naguib said. A helicopter also was leading a search and rescue mission.
Bedouin in the Sinai, who complain of neglect and discrimination by the authorities in Cairo, have attacked police stations and blocked access to towns to show their discontent and press for the release of fellow tribesmen from prison. The bus was carrying three other people who were left behind, Naguib added. Their nationalities were not immediately known.
Last month, Bedouin seized 50 German and British tourists whose coach accidentally crossed a roadblock they had set up as a protest against the governor of South Sinai. Naguib said the attackers were Bedouin tribesmen who resist government control and have been blamed for several attacks in recent months as tensions intensify between them and authorities they accuse of discrimination and of ignoring their plight.
Those tourists, who were also on a trip to the monastery, were released a few hours later. Bedouins have long complained of discrimination and random arrests by the government, but tensions have intensified in recent months along with a general deterioration of security in the region. There been reported attacks both on police stations and pipelines carrying gas to Jordan and Israel, as well as armed militias roving the streets.
Four armed men also attacked a hotel in an Egyptian Red Sea resort popular with Israeli holidaymakers last month before fleeing when police returned fire. Earlier this week, armed Islamic militants also seized 25 Chinese factory workers after forcing them off a bus elsewhere in the peninsula, but they were released the next day. The kidnappers were also demanding the release of members of their group arrested years before on charges of terrorism.
In general, Egypt has faced a surge in crime since the uprising, which uprooted Mubarak's police state that kept tight control over the population of 85 million. Protesters accuse the military council that has assumed power and the police force of negligence.
Tourism minister Mounir Abdel-Nour said last month that the number of tourists who came to Egypt in 2011 dropped to 9.8 million from 14.7 million the previous year. Revenues for the year were $8.8bn (£5.6bn) compared to $12.5bn in 2010.