Two Americans Kidnapped by Bedouins in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula

Two Americans traveling in the Sinai Peninsula were kidnapped by Bedouins demanding the release of a member of their tribe, an Interior Ministry official said.

The two were abducted today in the vicinity of Taba, a resort town on the border with Israel, the Interior Ministry official said, declining to be identified by name because he isn’t authorized to speak publicly. He said the Bedouins were members of the Tarabeen tribe and were calling for the release of a fellow tribesman who had been taken into custody by the authorities.

The kidnapped Americans were tourists, state-run Nile News reported.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Cairo was not immediately available for comment.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tarek El-Tablawy in Cairo at teltablawy@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net