Gunmen kidnap two US tourists in Egypt's Sinai

[Pete]

Gunmen kidnap two US tourists in Egypt's Sinai

http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=256354

"CAIRO - Gunmen in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula kidnapped two American women on Friday in an apparent attempt to hold them for ransom, security sources said.

Security in the isolated desert region has deteriorated since the overthrow of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in a popular uprising last February. South Sinai's Red Sea coast is a major tourism hub for Egypt...................."

This ain't gonna' help the Egyptian tourist industry any. Then again, the area has a long history of the odd tourist incident here and there.

[JJ_BPK]

Given the machinations the Egyptian government is going thru,,
Not sure why the DoS doesn't put them on the U-no-go-2 list??

[SF_BHT]

Originally Posted by JJ_BPK

Given the machinations the Egyptian government is going thru,,
Not sure why the DoS doesn't put them on the U-no-go-2 list??

If they did right now it would just fuel the anti western movement........

[mojaveman]

Originally Posted by JJ_BPK

Given the machinations the Egyptian government is going thru,,
Not sure why the DoS doesn't put them on the U-no-go-2 list?

Agree.

You think that some people would take into consideration what's been going on in some of the countries in the world and excercise a little more caution and judgement before traveling.

Hopes and prayers out to those two women.

[JimP]

Heck - Sharm El Sheik is about as safe as you COULD have gotten over there. There is a US Infantry Battalion 600 meters to the south. "Herb's Beach" (for those who have been there) is within swim distance. It is a "summer place" for Egyptian royalty, (or was). For this to happen, signals a huge decrease in the security of the region and an acquiescence by those in charge. There's only a couple of routes in and out of there and there ain't no place to hide in the desert. Things are going to get pretty crappy in Egypt very soon.

But - hey, Obama got rid of Mubarek didn't he? Good work there O.

[Pete]

U.S. tourists seized in Egypt's Sinai released

http://news.yahoo.com/gunmen-kidnap-...114753208.html

"CAIRO (Reuters) - Two American women kidnapped by gunmen in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Friday were released into army custody hours after they were seized, security sources said.

The two tourists were among a party of five travelling from Saint Catherine's monastery in central Sinai to the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh when a vehicle carrying men armed with machineguns stopped their small bus, the sources said.

The gunmen were apparently seeking a ransom, they said......"

[Horned Frog]

Originally Posted by Pete

U.S. tourists seized in Egypt's Sinai released

http://news.yahoo.com/gunmen-kidnap-...114753208.html

"CAIRO (Reuters) - Two American women kidnapped by gunmen in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Friday were released into army custody hours after they were seized, security sources said.
The two tourists were among a party of five travelling from Saint Catherine's monastery in central Sinai to the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh when a vehicle carrying men armed with machineguns stopped their small bus, the sources said.

The gunmen were apparently seeking a ransom, they said......"

Obviously they were watching the SOTU address and Act of Valor commercials and were afraid President Obama would send in ST6...

[blue902]

St Catherine's is a couple hours away from Sharm by bus, not right on the beach. It's pretty remote outside of the towns along the beach.

Probably was the Bedouins who run the camel train up and down the Mt Sinai resort by St. Catherines. Tired of working for the Man, get a little vacation for their own.

[JimP]

Rog on St Cat's but this is VERY unusual for the Beduoin. They're usually OK with running all the kids into town to shake down the tourists and Eurotrash and then coming back at night to pick them up; or herding a goat/camel into an MFO vehicle for the big pay-day. But resorting to armed robbery isn't their style. I suspect there's more to the story.

[mark46th]

The women have been released to the Egyptian Army...

http://gma.yahoo.com/two-kidnapped-a...-abc-news.html

[blue902]

Bedouin connection again:

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Mid...#axzz1mfY17v50

Seems like straight out of the Mexican coyote playbook, with a nice Middle Eastern twist.

...Qamrawi said smugglers kept him and some 60 other men in a hut, shackled by their legs. Each day, about a dozen guards burst into the room, making them lie down naked, one at a time. Then the torture began. Qamrawi said he saw 16 men die under torture, screaming for help, because they took too long to gather the ransom money.

Other Africans say smugglers gang-raped migrants, electrocuted them, kept them in the desert sun, deprived them of food, threatened to remove their organs, shackled them together and left them unwashed.

They include a 27-year-old Eritrean who reached Israel in February. He limps on his deformed legs, cannot close his swollen hands and wonders whether he will ever be healthy enough to work again.

Smugglers beat him with pipes and electric prods and smeared melting plastic on him. Women in his group were taken outside to be raped. Six men died, their bodies left to rot beside him for days at a time.

"Every time I close my eyes, I think about all the people I left behind in the (underground) room. They always come to mind," said the Eritrean, who provided only his first name, Touldeh, fearing his captors could still harm him.

Israeli advocates say although the torture happens in the Sinai, Israel can do more for freed captives when they arrive in the Jewish state.

"Every minute that we are waiting, more and more people are being tortured," said Shahar Shoham of the Israeli branch of Physicians for Human Rights, which treats many new arrivals, including Touldeh, in a free medical clinic.

Some 50,000 Africans have entered Israel in recent years, fleeing conflict and poverty in search of safety and opportunity in the relatively prosperous Jewish state. They need the smugglers' help to navigate the rugged Sinai desert and reach Israel's border. The smugglers are nomadic Bedouin tribesmen.

For several years, smugglers ran a lucrative trade. But with Israel rushing to seal the border, smugglers are raising their prices as migrants try reach Israel before it's too late.

Africans say the journey to Israel begins in a shantytown in northern Sudan, where initial contacts with Bedouin smuggling tribes are made. Most smugglers keep their word and deliver them to Israel's border for a few hundred dollars...

[Pete]

Sinai kidnapping: Two US tourists freed

This is becoming almost "regular".

"Two American tourists have been freed unharmed after they were kidnapped in the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, say security officials.

They were seized early on Thursday near the resort of Dahab..................."

Well, at least they got their money's worth out of that trip - and a few good tails for the grandkids. One of these days somebody is going to get greedy and some tourist is going to end up dead.

Not too long ago the "cool thing" to do was shoot up a tourist bus.

[Richard]

Sounds like a job for the SEAL anti-piracy teams.

Richard

[Destrier]

Or female rangers.