Tourist abduction blow for Mubarak

[Salem6]

As 11 European tourists are abducted in south-west Egypt, the BBC's Arab affairs analyst Magdi Abdelhadi assesses the likely fall out of the incident.


Egypt is a popular destination for European tourists

Tourism matters a lot for the Egyptian economy. It brings in some $8bn (£4.3bn) a year, which is more than 6% of the country's gross domestic product.

One of the most likely consequences of a kidnap incident like this is that it will dent Egypt's reputation as a safe destination for foreign tourists.

It is thought that five Italians, five Germans and a Romanian were taken along with eight Egyptian travel guides and drivers last Friday.

The abduction is believed to have taken place near the Gilf al-Kebir plateau in southern Egypt. Unconfirmed reports say the hostages have been taken across the border into Sudan.

The Egyptian tourism minister says negotiations are under way to secure their release.

Bad news

Whatever the motives of the kidnappers, be they political or just criminal, there is no doubt that the incident is a serious blow to the administration of President Hosni Mubarak.

The kidnap comes at the end of a period of bad news for Mr Mubarak's government that has prompted growing calls for a change of leadership inside Egypt.

Mr Mubarak has been in power for nearly 30 years.

His critics will see the kidnapping of foreign tourists as yet another example of government failure, despite the exceptional powers given to the police and the enormous resources allocated to security.

Earlier this month, the authorities were accused of responding slowly to a massive rock slide at a shanty town near Cairo that killed more than 100 people.

And before that, the city's fire brigade failed to extinguish a blaze that destroyed a historic building in central Cairo housing the upper chamber of parliament.




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[Salem6]

A group of Western tourists, who spent 10 days as hostages in the Sahara Desert, have returned home.

Five Italians flew from Egypt to Turin, while five Germans and a Romanian national landed in Berlin.

The tourists, and their eight Egyptian guides, had been abducted in a remote border region of Egypt.

They were rescued unharmed on Monday near the Sudan-Chad border. Half of the kidnappers were killed, and no ransom was paid, Egyptian officials said.

Abductees' story

The Western tourists were greeted by their families and government officials in Berlin and Turin, in what was an emotional reunion.


The group were seized in the remote Gilf al-Kebir area

Some of the freed men and women then revealed dramatic details of their seizure by gunmen, which was followed by a dash through remote areas of the Sahara Desert.

"They attacked us with guns... they took everything. They made us kneel on the ground at gunpoint and then took us away," Italian tourist Walter Barroto told Sky TG24 at Turin's Caselle airport.

Giovanna Quaglia, another Italian tourist, said: "The first day we, I mean us women especially, kept our heads down, with a veil...

"This was our own choice, it seemed the most appropriate behaviour - we didn't look for any contact.

"But I must say we were never subjected to physical violence," Ms Quaglia said.

In Berlin, the freed Germans made no comments to the media.

Rescue operation

The tourists were freed by Egyptian troops in a pre-dawn operation on Monday, Egyptian security sources said.



Egyptian Defence Minister Hussein Tantawi said "half of the kidnappers were eliminated" in the raid, the official MENA news agency reported.

However, this was later disputed by other officials who said there had been little or no violence.

Some reports say Sudanese troops were also involved in the operation.

The breakthrough came a day after Sudanese troops reportedly clashed with the kidnappers in northern Sudan, killing six gunmen. Another two were taken into custody.



The two suspects - whose identity was not revealed - claimed the tourists were in Chad but their exact whereabouts at the time of rescue remains unclear. Chad denied the group was within its borders.

After the rescue, the Western tourists and their guides were flown to Cairo.

German officials had been negotiating via satellite phone with the kidnappers, who were demanding a ransom of $8.8m (£4.9m).

Egyptian officials said no money exchanged hands.



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