EGYPT: The confusing fate of kidnapped tourists

Sept. 23, 2008 7:58 AM PT

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The fate of 11 Europeans and eight Egyptians kidnapped by masked bandits is unfolding amid sharp rocks and painted caves in a Sahara desert that is at once sparsely majestic and disorientating -- much like the information released about the hostages by the Egyptian government.

In a confusing swirl of developments in recent days, the tourists were reported kidnapped, then freed, then not freed. The latest is that the German government is negotiating to release five Germans, five Italians, one Romanian and eight Egyptians who were snatched Friday near Gilf Al-Kebir in remote southwest Egypt.

“The location of the kidnappers has been pinpointed. It’s a no-man’s land between the Sudan, Libya and Egypt borders,” Boutros Sadiq, Sudan’s undersecretary of foreign affairs told journalists Tuesday. “We are not going to have an operation that harms the tourists.”

Arab media reports say the abductors are asking for a $6-million to $16-million ransom and have threatened to kill the hostages if police or security forces attempt a rescue.

“We are coordinating fully with the Sudanese government,” said Egyptian Tourism Minister Zohair Garana. “However, currently, the German government is in touch with the kidnappers and negotiating the best way to release the kidnapped.”

The ordeal has embarrassed the Egyptian government, which relies heavily on tourism that brings in nearly $8 billion a year. On Monday, Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit announced that the captives had been released and were “safe and sound.”

That assertion was quickly corrected by an Egyptian Cabinet minister and the tourism ministry, both of which described Gheit’s comments as premature. The different ministries in the government do agree on one thing -– the kidnappers are most likely bandits and tribesmen, not Islamic militants.

European governments have paid ransoms in the past, especially in the harsh, dangerous outbacks of North Africa.

— Jeffrey Fleishman in Cairo

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Babylon & Beyond

Jeffrey Fleishman

Jeffrey Fleishman is a senior writer at the Los Angeles Times. Previously, he was the foreign and national editor. A 2002 Nieman fellow at Harvard University, Fleishman was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in feature writing. A longtime foreign correspondent, he served as bureau chief for The Times in Cairo and Berlin, and was previously based in Rome for the Philadelphia Inquirer. He also was a writer on film, art and culture. Fleishman has been a finalist for the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting and a finalist for the Center for Public Integrity’s Award for Outstanding International Investigative Reporting. He is the author of five novels, including “Good Night, Forever” and “Last Dance.”