Foreign Tourists Among 15 Abducted in Egypt

Kidnappers have taken 15 people in Egypt, including five Italian tourists, five Germans, one Romanian and their four Egyptian guides.

The group is thought to have been captured at a remote location near the Sudanese-Egyptian border south of Aswan while on a desert adventure last Friday in four jeeps across an area of the western desert famed for its prehistoric cave paintings.

The four Egyptians were identified as two safari company employees, the owner of the company and a security officer looking after group.

The Egyptian tourism minister, Zoheir Garana, said his department was negotiating with the kidnappers, who are thought to be desert tribesman demanding up to $6m (?3.25m) in ransom.

An Egyptian government spokesman said it was thought the tourists were taken to Sudan.

A tour guide, Mohammed Marzouk, told the Associated Press there had been previous incidents in the area, most recently in May. Security sources said there was no indication Islamist militants were involved.

Egypt's tourist industry has previously suffered kidnappings and attacks. In November 1997, 58 foreign tourists and four Egyptians were killed in Luxor when an abduction attempt went wrong.

Two years ago, bombings at three locations in the Egyptian resort city of Dahab killed 23 people, including three foreigners. More than 80 others were injured, including foreign tourists.

A crackdown against Islamic militants by the government of Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, has seen the number of attacks on tourists fall.