REUTERS

The authorities have located a group of kidnappers and the 19 hostages they seized in Egypt on Friday, but no rescue attempt that could endanger the hostages is planned, a Sudanese official said Tuesday.

The official, Ali Youssef Ahmed of the Foreign Ministry, said the group was about 15 miles inside Sudanese territory, near Jebel Uweinat, a mountain near Sudan’s borders with Egypt and Libya. The hostages — five Italians, five Germans, a Romanian and eight Egyptians — were taken in a remote desert area of Egypt. The kidnappers demanded $8.8 million. Sudanese forces surrounded the area and an Egyptian team was negotiating with the kidnappers, Mr. Ahmed said, according to Sudan’s state news agency, SUNA.

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Conflicting statements on identities of tourists hijackers in Sudan

CAIRO (ST) – The Sudanese and Egyptian government exchanged conflicting information today on the identity of people who kidnapped 11 Europeans tourists near the borders.

New tourists arrive at a resort in Dakhla oasis in Egypt’s Western Desert, some 850 km (528 miles) southwest of Cairo, September 23, 2008 (Reuters)

Ali Youssef head of protocol division at the Sudanese Foreign ministry told Sudan official News Agency (SUNA) that “all the kidnappers are Egyptians”.

However the daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper quoting unidentified Egyptian officials said that the kidnappers consist of 3 Sudanese and a Chadian national.

The Sudanese official confirmed earlier reports that the kidnappers have been surrounded but emphasized that there is no intention of engaging with them “to preserve the lives of the hostages”.

The tourists were taken at gunpoint last Friday while they were camping near the Sudanese border, Egyptian officials said.

five Italians, five Germans, a Romanian and eight Egyptians were among those kidnapped.

The Egyptian state news agency (MENA) said that the kidnappers are demanding $15 million to release the tourists. The top tourism official in Egypt Zuhair Jarana said that the captives “are in good health”.

One of the relatives of the drivers who were with the tourists said that it is likely that they have strayed 20 kilometers inside Sudanese borders.

Another tour guide by the name of Imam Fawzi revealed that Chadian highwaymen have recently become active in the area.

“I used to hear there were Chadians moving every now & then with arms. I didn’t believe that until I witnessed hijacking of two SUV’s last year at the hands of armed Chadians” he told Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper.