CAIRO: Sudan and Egypt said they have located the whereabouts of the 19 hostages kidnapped from Egypt Monday. Meanwhile, the kidnappers have threatened to kill the hostages if a plane search is conducted.
Sudanese Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Boutros Sadiq told reporters in Khartoum that the hostages had been located, but due to the threat there was a reticence to endanger them.
“They are now in an area of no-man’s land between the Sudanese, Libyan and Egyptian border, in the area of Jebel Uweinat, he said, “Their position has been pinpointed and there is coordination between Sudanese and Egyptian authorities in this regard.
“From our point of view the security of the hostages is the absolute priority – we do not want an operation that harms hostages, he added.
According to the kidnapped tour operator who is contacting his German wife at regular intervals, the kidnappers have threatened to kill the hostages if a plane search is conducted for them, an Egyptian official told Reuters Tuesday.
However Tourism Minister Zoheir Garranah denied this, saying, “Unfortunately, there have been so many rumors, one of them is [a death threat] in case of security officials trying to rescue the hostages. We never received any threats whatsoever.
He added that, “We have very sure and reliable information that everyone is fine, they are in very good health and they have enough food and water.
They have not been badly treated.
“We are going to continue our efforts to release the hostages and we will do that until this unfortunate incident is completely resolved, Garranah said.
Another official told AFP that “Egypt has sent intelligence officers to Sudan where they are working with the Sudanese authorities to secure the hostages’ release.
Currently “the German government is in negotiations with the kidnappers [over the $6 million ransom], Garranah told Daily News Egypt, with Egyptian authorities “sweeping the area.
Garranah added that the authorities had been communicating with the hostages by satellite phone, but haven’t been able to track them down yet.
Other sources told Daily News Egypt that it was believed that the kidnappers were African according to the calls from the managing director of the tour company who told his German wife that the kidnappers spoke with an African accent.
Peter Wirth, owner of the “Hot Spring Hotel in Al-Bahraia Oasis, told Daily News Egypt that he personally knows the owner of the tourism company, some of the drivers, and some of the German tourists who were kidnapped.
According to Wirth, who organizes safaris and hosts more than 500 safari tours per year, the tourism company that is responsible of what Wirth described as an “expedition tour is Egyptous Inter Travel and the owner’s name is Ibrahim Abdel Rahim.
Eleven tourists and eight Egyptians were kidnapped by a masked gang in Karkur Talh in the remote southern area of Gilf El-Kabir near the Sudanese border, officials declared Monday.
The Ministry of Information released a statement that the group was embarking on a safari in the area, which lies at a crux between the Egyptian, Sudanese and Libyan borders.
Those abducted included five Germans, five Italians [three women and two men] and one Romanian. Of the eight Egyptians, four were drivers, two were tour guides, one was a border guard and the final one was the owner of the travel company responsible for the safari. They were traveling in four cars. -Additional reporting by Yasmine Saleh and Theodore May.
