Egypt officials negotiating to free 2 tourists
Israeli citizen Amir Omar Hasan, Norwegian tourist held in mountainous area in Sinai, intelligence officials say
The intelligence officials said Saturday that a Bedouin kidnapper abducted an Israeli man, Amir Omar Hasan, and Norwegian woman to pressure police to release a cousin who is being held for his suspected involvement in the killing of policemen in the Suez Canal city of Ismailiya.
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The officials say the tourists, who were abducted Friday, are being held in a desolate mountainous area called Gabal-Maghara in Sinai. A later report suggested that progress in negotiations had been achieved.
One of the kidnappers told the Egyptian news agency ONA that the two are being treated well and are in daily contact with the Norwegian and Israeli embassies. He added that negotiations have yet to show progress towards a practical solution that will see the tourists released.
Amir Omar Hasan (Photo: nsrawy.net)
Amir Omar Hasan, the 23-year-old Israeli-Arab who was kidnapped together with a Norwegian citizen by a gang of Bedouins while vacationing in Sinai, has spoken with his family members in Israel Friday.
According to his relatives, Hasan himself had called the family to inform them of his captivity. "He asked us to stay calm, and said that he is healthy," a family member said, adding: "We're not so sure about the circumstance of the actually kidnapping."
According to the same relative, Hasan, a student studying in Eilat, left Israel for a trip in Sinai on Thursday: "He insisted on traveling there despite his mother's pleas, she begged him not go.
"Today, we received a phone call from a source who told us he had been kidnapped," afterwards, Amir himself would place a call to the family, informing them of his plight.
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