At least 15 people, including 11 foreign tourists, are reported to have been kidnapped in southern Egypt.

The tourists were said to be five Italians, five Germans and a Romanian, while four Egyptians were also said to have been seized.

Local reports said the abduction, which took place near Aswan, was carried out by tribesmen or bandits.

Egypt's tourism minister said a ransom had been demanded and negotiations were under way.

A ministry statement said: "This is an act of banditry not of terrorism."

Israel denial

The German and Italian foreign ministries confirmed that five nationals from each of their countries were among the group.

Both said they had set up crisis teams to deal with the incident.

The German ministry said its nationals had been missing since Friday.

Egyptian media, citing security sources, are reporting that the four Egyptians taken were two tourist guides, a driver and a border guard.

There were unconfirmed reports that the group may have been taken across the border into Sudan.

The BBC's Christian Fraser in Cairo says there is always heavy security around key tourist sites in the area such as the Temple of Abu Simbel, close to the Sudan border.

He says Egyptian security sources believe it is likely the tourists were kidnapped while en route to a site.

They were reported to be travelling in three to four off-road vehicles.

There were initially reports that the group included Israeli tourists. But Israelis were not mentioned in later reports, and the Israeli foreign ministry denied any of its nationals were involved.

Kidnaps of foreigners in Egypt have been very uncommon in recent years.

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | 'Eleven tourists seized' in Egypt

The Sudanese authorities say they have pinpointed the location at which 11 foreign tourists and their eight Egyptian guides are being held.


Gilf al-Kebir is a popular destination for the most adventurous tourists

A Sudanese official said they were in a no-man's land between the Sudanese, Libyan and Egyptian borders.

They were kidnapped in a remote area of south-west Egypt on Friday.

Efforts are continuing to negotiate their release. Egyptian officials say the German authorities are now leading negotiations with the kidnappers.

The hostages include five Germans, five Italians, and a Romanian tourist.

The Egyptian authorities say the kidnappers are gangsters who are demanding $15m in ransom money. They are not thought to have made any political demands as yet.

The undersecretary in Sudan's foreign ministry Mutrif Siddiq said the hostages were in the Jebel Uweinat area and officials were co-ordinating with their Egyptian counterparts.



"From our point of view the security of the hostages is the absolute priority - we do not want an operation that harms hostages," he added.


Germany has not confirmed it is conducting any negotiations about a ransom, saying only it has formed a "crisis team" to deal with the matter.

Reports in the media quoting Egyptian officials say the hostage-takers have threatened to kill the captives if any attempt is made to reach them by aircraft.

An official speaking on condition of anonymity said the kidnapped tour operator contacted his wife by satellite phone and told her of the threat of execution and she passed it to the authorities.

Remote plateau

The Egyptian government says the hostages have been taken across the border into Sudan from the Gilf al-Kebir area where they were seized, which is close to Libya, Sudan and Chad.

Gilf al-Kebir is a giant plateau famous for its prehistoric cave paintings, which featured in the 1996 film The English Patient.

The tourism ministry said those abducted along with the foreigners were two guides, four drivers, a guard and the owner of the travel company.

Another group of foreigners was held at gunpoint in February and three of their vehicles were taken.

Egyptian Tourism Minister Zoheir Garana said the tour operator made contact with his wife on Friday via satellite phone and again on Monday. He said the hostages were "safe and well".

"We are not involved in the negotiations over the ransom. It's the German government that is responsible for whatever is related to the ransom," Mr Garana told the Associated Press.

The Nile Valley and eastern Sahara have been considered mostly safe for tourists in recent years after a campaign of attacks by militant Islamists in the 1990s.

But a series of bombings have hit the newly-developed tourism centres in the Sinai peninsula, which are a major source of foreign currency for Egypt.

The authorities have blamed local Bedouin affiliated with militant Islamist groups.

The Gilf al-Kebir area is very sparsely populated and has virtually no police presence.

It is relatively close to chronic conflict areas such as Darfur in western Sudan and eastern Chad.

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Egypt hostages' location 'known'

A group of 11 European tourists and eight Egyptian guides kidnapped in Egypt's desert have been moved to Libya, a Sudanese official has said.

The group had previously been taken from Egypt to Sudan. Sudanese foreign ministry official Ali Yusuf Ahmed said the hostages were safe.

The group were on a desert safari in south Egypt, near the borders of Sudan and Libya, and were seized last Friday.

The captives include five Germans, five Italians, and one Romanian.

Egyptian officials say the kidnappers are gangsters who are demanding several million dollars in ransom money.

They are not thought to have made any political demands as yet.

Darfur roads closed

Mr Ahmed said the hostages were being held some 13 km (eight miles) inside Libyan territory.

"The Libyan authorities have been informed," he said. "They are now following the progress of the group."

Mr Ahmed said the language of the kidnappers and the direction they were originally taking indicated that they could be part of a rebel faction from the Sudanese region of Darfur.

Roads into Darfur have been shut as a precautionary measure, he said.

Earlier this week, the group were spirited into Sudan from the remote Egyptian region of Gilf al-Kebir where they were seized.

The area, which is close to chronic conflict areas in western Sudan and eastern Chad, is sparsely populated and has virtually no police presence.

Gilf al-Kebir is a giant plateau famous for its prehistoric cave paintings, which featured in the 1996 film The English Patient.

BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Egypt hostages 'moved to Libya'

This way you will refuse to make tourists come to Egypt

This news could create great impact in tourism industry. The government should take legal action regarding on this situation. I have a friend from Australia who wants to try Nile cruise but as we talked yesterday he changed his mind because he also heard this bad news.

But we still want to try the Nile cruise, maybe early next year.