Apparently, the Field Marshal Tantawi presents his credentials to the United States instead of Egyptian people. sadly they will never learn .

is he officially and legally kidnapped?

What else is new?

It boggles the mind that these useful idiots who run to embrace the Arab world always ending up "costing". Why should anyone pay for his release? He knew full well what was going on when he entered the country, and he should accept responsibility for his actions.

The US is allowing it's citizens to be taken hostage and held for ransom by Egypt? A real american leader would have cut all support of Egypt until Grapel was released unharmed and compensated by the Egyptian gov't. A real american leader would declare Egypt a hostile state, and treat it as such.

these idiots, grapel, the american hikers held in iran, and all others of like minds who go adventure seeking in arab countries, should be left to suffer the consequences of their ill conceived actions. instead they go crying to mommy (the us state dept.) to get them out. $1,000,000 for the hikers paid to the mullahs in iran and we don't yet know how much for grapel. grapel should stay in an egyptian prison with the people he loves so much.

to the egyptians that if whatever this person did during the uprising does not constitute espionage, they have no right to make financial demands in exchange for his release, since he's innocent, as they freely admit. In fact, the new egyptian government acts just like the somali pirates, who kidnap people and hold them for ransom. I sometimes think we in the west are our own worst enemies. They (arab theocracies) make demands, we submit.

well, this guy grapel has guts, since he thought the egyptians won't touch usa citizens; not with the present muslim botherood-iran controlled egypt; 2US citizens were just released from Iran with a $500,000 ransom, Grapel aslo has a ransom by the egypt government?