Tourists kidnapped in Egypt were freed

All foreign tourists who were kidnapped in Egypt about a week ago have been freed and their condition is fine, according to Egyptian television quoted by Reuters. The information was also confirmed by the Egyptian Foreign minister.

The news comes a day after the announcement that Sudanese troops killed several of the kidnappers and arrested another two.

The group of kidnapped people included 11 European tourists – a Romanian citizen among them – and eight Egyptians.

The Egyptian Defense minister said half of the kidnappers have been killed.

The Romanian woman who was kidnapped along other Italian and German tourists was established in Germany.

Later on Monday, the Romanian Foreign Ministry confirmed the hostages were freed but provided no further details.

Prior to the Sudanese announcement that six kidnappers were killed on Sunday, international news agencies reported that the hostage takers had transfered the 19 hostages from Libya to Sudan.

UPDATE: An Egyptian official told HotNews.ro that the rescuing mission was a mix of negotiation and military action. The tourists have reached Cairo safely.

The Romanian Foreign Ministry said that rescuing the tourists was the result of collaboration between Egyptian, German, Italian and Romanian authorities.

According to Egyptian TV, no ransom was paid for the release of the hostages, despite an Egyptian intelligence official had been previously quoted as saying that authorities paid 6 million euro in ransom.

Egyptian government spokesperson Magdy Whady told HotNews.ro correspondent to Italy Miruna Cajvaneanu that the rescuing operation took place at the Sudan-Egypt border and that the negotiation part of the rescue process was attended by Sudanese and Egyptian representatives.