Kidnap still believed to be in Libya (Roundup)

Sep 26, 2008, 13:17 GMT

Cairo - German authorities attempting to end the kidnapping crisis in which 19 people were snatched in the Egyptian desert a week ago have said that they have no new information regarding their whereabouts or condition, it emerged on Friday.

The group, which consists of 11 tourists - five Germans, five Italians and one Romanian - plus eight Egyptian travel company staff, is believed to be in Libyan territory following an attempt by Sudanese security forces on Wednesday to surround the kidnap group after they had crossed the border from Egypt earlier in the week.

The last time authorities had contact with the group was on Thursday morning, through a satellite telephone call.

A spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry said on Friday that a crisis team was working around the clock to secure the release of the group, and was in contact with all relevant bodies.

According to the Arabic daily al-Sharq al-Awsat around 20 kidnappers are detaining the tourists, who had been on a desert safari of Egypt's Gilf Kebir region in the Western Desert when they were snatched by a gang of masked men on September 19.

An Egyptian government spokesman told the paper on Friday that he was worried that the kidnappers were trying to reach Chad. Reports emerged on Friday that the kidnappers were seeking a ransom of six million euros (8.8 million dollars).

Negotiations have been undertaken with the kidnappers by the Federal Government of Germany on behalf of the governments of the other abducted tourists.