Egypt: Kidnapped 19-member European tour released

[September 29, 2008]  CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- A kidnapped 19-member European tour group was freed Monday and the 11 tourists and eight Egyptian guides and drivers are in good health and on their way to Cairo, Egypt's state news agency and television reported.

The group, which includes five Germans, five Italians and a Romanian, disappeared Sept. 19 while on a desert safari trip in a remote corner of southwestern Egypt. Their abductors took them to Sudan, then to Libya, but their final whereabouts were unclear.

Italian news reports quoted Foreign Minister Franco Frattini as saying the 19 have been freed.

He told Italian reporters in Belgrade, Serbia, they were in the hands of Egyptian authorities and their condition was being checked.

The Egyptian report referred to an "operation this morning" to free the 19 but did not say where it took place. It said all 19 were in good health, but again gave no details.

"Our compatriots and the other hostages in Egypt have been freed," Frattini was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency. "It is the result of international cooperation for which we have to be really grateful to the authorities of other countries that have been working with us."

ANSA said Frattini declined to give details on the release because the group was still in an unsafe area. German officials had been negotiating with the kidnappers, who were demanding millions of dollars in ransom.

On Sunday, Sudan's military said eight kidnappers led soldiers on a high-speed desert chase, ending in a firefight that left all but two of the gunmen dead. Five soldiers were also injured in the chase, which started when a vehicle carrying the gunmen refused to halt.

[Associated Press; By MAAMOUN YOUSSEF]

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.