Libya appeared at odds with Sudan and Egypt on Friday over the whereabouts of 11 European tourists and eight Egyptians kidnapped a week ago in a desert area of southwest Egypt.
“With research operations now finished, we can confirm that the hostages and their abductors are not in Libya,” a senior Libyan official said on condition of anonymity.
Both Egyptian and Sudanese officials said earlier on Friday that the hostages were now in Libya.
“The kidnappers took them across the Libyan frontier by vehicle. They are still there, according to our contacts,” said Ali Yousuf, head of protocol at the Sudanese foreign ministry.
“We are watching the region closely and Sudan is doing everything possible to help the efforts to ensure their liberation,” he added.
Taken hostage on Sept. 19 during a off-road vehicle safari, the hostages were first moved to Sudan by their kidnappers, whose nationality is unknown.
Sudan said on Thursday that the group had been transferred to Libya, about 15km from the border in the Jebel Uweinat region.
Jebel Uweinat is a 1,900m plateau roughly 30km in diameter near where Sudan, Egypt and Libya meet.
“They are still in Libya. We have no other news,” an Egyptian security official said earlier on condition of anonymity.
The hostages are 11 tourists — five Italians, five Germans and one Romanian — plus eight Egyptians — two guides, four drivers, a border guard and the organiser of the safari.
The kidnappers have demanded that Germany take charge of payment of an US$8.8 million) ransom, an Egyptian security official said on Thursday.
END OF AN ERA: The vote brings the curtain down on 20 years of socialist rule, which began in 2005 when Evo Morales, an indigenous coca farmer, was elected president A center-right senator and a right-wing former president are to advance to a run-off for Bolivia’s presidency after the first round of elections on Sunday, marking the end of two decades of leftist rule, preliminary official results showed. Bolivian Senator Rodrigo Paz was the surprise front-runner, with 32.15 percent of the vote cast in an election dominated by a deep economic crisis, results published by the electoral commission showed. He was followed by former Bolivian president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga in second with 26.87 percent, according to results based on 92 percent of votes cast. Millionaire businessman Samuel Doria Medina, who had been tipped
ELECTION DISTRACTION? When attention shifted away from the fight against the militants to politics, losses and setbacks in the battlefield increased, an analyst said Recent clashes in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland region are alarming experts, exposing cracks in the country’s federal system and creating an opening for militant group al-Shabaab to gain ground. Following years of conflict, Somalia is a loose federation of five semi-autonomous member states — Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West — that maintain often fractious relations with the central government in the capital, Mogadishu. However, ahead of elections next year, Somalia has sought to assert control over its member states, which security analysts said has created gaps for al-Shabaab infiltration. Last week, two Somalian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-government forces and
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
RSS