[Elder of Ziyon] Two more tourists in Egypt kidnapped

Say bye-bye to your tourist trade, Egypt:

Gunmen kidnapped two Brazilian tourists travelling through Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Sunday after a visit to an isolated mountain monastery, security sources said.

The gunmen were believed to be Bedouin who wanted hostages to negotiate the release of prisoners held by the government, the sources said.

They stopped a bus carrying a group of tourists to St. Catherine's Monastery but only took the two Brazilian women. The government was contacting local Bedouin sheikhs to try to negotiate the women's release, the sources added.

Bedouin tribesmen in the Sinai have attacked police stations, blocked access to towns and taken hostages to show their discontent with what they see as poor treatment from Cairo and to press for the release of jailed kinsmen.

Last month, two American women were held in a short-lived kidnapping until Egyptian authorities negotiated their release a few hours later. Two dozen Chinese cement factory workers were also kidnapped last month and released a day later.

As if things weren't bad enough already.

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Posted By Elder of Ziyon to Elder of Ziyon at 3/18/2012 11:31:00 PM