Bedouins in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula kidnap 2 American tourists, officials say

EL-ARISH, Egypt — Armed Bedouins kidnapped two American tourists in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula early on Thursday, security officials said.

The Bedouins snatched the two as they were traveling in a car from Dahab to Nuweiba, resort towns on the Red Sea’s Gulf of Aqaba. The two Americans are men in their early 30s, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The abduction was the latest in a series of kidnappings in Sinai, which has seen a surge in lawlessness over the last year. Bedouins have been kidnapping tourists to pressure authorities to release their detained relatives or to improve basic services in their areas. Past kidnappings have ended peacefully.

The security officials said the latest kidnapping may have been carried out by Bedouins protesting Tuesday’s arrest of fellow tribesman Eid Suleiman Aytawi on suspicion of trafficking in drugs.

Negotiations were under way to secure the release of the two, the officials said.