American tourists kidnapped in Egypt on way to Sharm

[deeper thoughts]

Egyptian Kidnappers Reportedly Free 2 American Tourists | Fox News

 

[Searcaigh]

Confirmed via the BBC

BBC News - US tourists seized in Egypt's Sinai peninsula freed

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

Testimony of the released Americans:

World News - Freed American: Egyptian kidnappers 'were very nice'

 

[deeper thoughts]

Testimony of the released Americans:

World News - Freed American: Egyptian kidnappers 'were very nice'

lemons=lemonades I guess

 

[marcwh]

Hi all,

I used to live in this part of the world and know the road quite well. I contacted a friend in Sharm, and she tells me tourism is down since the revolution (good for diving - less crowded). Other than that business as usual. I am planning to go back in June. My advice is avoid the desert, St Catharines and the ATV rides if at all possible. Fly into Sharm and be met at the airport, by your dive organization. For your deco stop, just do Sharm (yes it is very touristy), but stay in groups and have fun with the haggling.

The diving is amazing, and if you haven't dropped on the Thistlegorm.....well its worth it!

 

[Crowley]

All you need to do is frequent AJE - Al Jazeera English and read the stories on Egypt.
Anyone traveling to Egypt must be very brave or totally ignorant to what is going on in that country.

All foreigners are in danger, no they don't love tourism more than the local imam....i regularly enjoy traveling to dangerous places that are worth it, and egypt is joining afghanistan as a no travel zone in my opinion.

This is, unfortunately, an attitude I am hearing more and more frequently, and is, sadly, quite wrong: that all foreigners traveling to Egypt are somehow at risk and that being a tourist means you should be in fear for your life. I'd still rather walk around Sharm late at night than cities such as, for example New York or London. Yes, Egypt has problems, but this sort of attack is rare, and I must point out that it has also happened prior to the revolution. To say that Egypt and Afghanistan are somehow related is rather more ignorant than saying travelers to Egypt are brave or foolhardy! I do live here, after all. I am not contemplating moving to Afghanistan!

In some respects, the shootings and kidnappings are not related to the problems in Cairo. They have been carried out by Bedouin tribesmen, who have been oppressed for many years, and are trying to take advantage of the current instability. The shooting in Old market was tragic, but an unfortunate accident. The tourists were not deliberately targeted, they were caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. The kidnapping of course was a more deliberate action, and this concerns me somewhat more, however I still have no fear for my personal safety in Sharm, where I have lived for almost three years now. The Bedouin are NOT the same as Al-Qaeda where there is a risk that a person might be beheaded live on TV - the Bedouin do not have a fundamentalist religious ideology behind their actions, they're just really pi***d off. Let's not forget that they kidnapped an Egyptian as well as two Americans....

Tourism is indeed down and understandably so, but it is also dead low season, which skews the statistics somewhat - February is always quiet, even when there is no threat of a revolution.

I understand that people have concerns, but writing the country off as a "new Afghanistan" is ridiculous, however I do find that the political situation is making it increasingly more and more difficult to defend my corner here. I am frustrated with the downturn in business, and should it become unsafe, then I'll be on the first plane out of here, but until then, it's business as usual. Remember - the fighting in Cairo and Suez is a long, long way away. It's like saying "I'm not going to visit San Francisco because somebody got shot in Los Angeles".

Thank you marcwh for throwing some common sense into the post, as opposed to immediately writing off the country. There are problems here, yes, but they are NOT widespread in the tourist resorts.

Some advice for traveling here:
- make sure your flight tickets and holidays are insured so that should there be a cancellation, you can be refunded.
- book trips through reputable agencies, such as those sponsored by tour operators in the hotels. Do not be tempted by street sellers. Use big name companies where possible.
- if you're uncertain, stay in the town and don't take trips into the desert. Remember also that in normal circumstances, there is a high volume of traffic to the tourist locations.
- do not assume that what you read in any media outlet is representative of all the people in the country. Good news does not sell newspapers as well as death and mayhem.

Obviously as a resident here I have a vested interest in the future of this country. It's very frustrating and I'm very disappointed that things have not improved as much as we hoped, and yes, there is still a possibility that the country will destabilise further, but at the moment, it's business as usual, when there is business, that is. Don't write the country off just yet.

Cheers

C.

 

[Searcaigh]

I totally agree with Crowley.

Having lived in the Middle East since 1986, I have seen lots of happenings and been in a few dodgy situations but nothing really dangerous apart from SCUDS dropping on Riyadh during Gulf War 1.

I visit Cairo frequently on business and have no problems with going there, Sharm would be a lot better, and perhaps I can ask my distributor to arrange our meetings there instead of Cairo ..... Crowley do you have a meeting room we could use

 

[Mike]

This is, unfortunately, an attitude I am hearing more and more frequently, and is, sadly, quite wrong: that all foreigners traveling to Egypt are somehow at risk and that being a tourist means you should be in fear for your life. I'd still rather walk around Sharm late at night than cities such as, for example New York or London. Yes, Egypt has problems, but this sort of attack is rare, and I must point out that it has also happened prior to the revolution. To say that Egypt and Afghanistan are somehow related is rather more ignorant than saying travelers to Egypt are brave or foolhardy! I do live here, after all. I am not contemplating moving to Afghanistan!

In some respects, the shootings and kidnappings are not related to the problems in Cairo. They have been carried out by Bedouin tribesmen, who have been oppressed for many years, and are trying to take advantage of the current instability. The shooting in Old market was tragic, but an unfortunate accident. The tourists were not deliberately targeted, they were caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. The kidnapping of course was a more deliberate action, and this concerns me somewhat more, however I still have no fear for my personal safety in Sharm, where I have lived for almost three years now. The Bedouin are NOT the same as Al-Qaeda where there is a risk that a person might be beheaded live on TV - the Bedouin do not have a fundamentalist religious ideology behind their actions, they're just really pi***d off. Let's not forget that they kidnapped an Egyptian as well as two Americans....

Tourism is indeed down and understandably so, but it is also dead low season, which skews the statistics somewhat - February is always quiet, even when there is no threat of a revolution.

I understand that people have concerns, but writing the country off as a "new Afghanistan" is ridiculous, however I do find that the political situation is making it increasingly more and more difficult to defend my corner here. I am frustrated with the downturn in business, and should it become unsafe, then I'll be on the first plane out of here, but until then, it's business as usual. Remember - the fighting in Cairo and Suez is a long, long way away. It's like saying "I'm not going to visit San Francisco because somebody got shot in Los Angeles".

Thank you marcwh for throwing some common sense into the post, as opposed to immediately writing off the country. There are problems here, yes, but they are NOT widespread in the tourist resorts.

Some advice for traveling here:
- make sure your flight tickets and holidays are insured so that should there be a cancellation, you can be refunded.
- book trips through reputable agencies, such as those sponsored by tour operators in the hotels. Do not be tempted by street sellers. Use big name companies where possible.
- if you're uncertain, stay in the town and don't take trips into the desert. Remember also that in normal circumstances, there is a high volume of traffic to the tourist locations.
- do not assume that what you read in any media outlet is representative of all the people in the country. Good news does not sell newspapers as well as death and mayhem.

Obviously as a resident here I have a vested interest in the future of this country. It's very frustrating and I'm very disappointed that things have not improved as much as we hoped, and yes, there is still a possibility that the country will destabilise further, but at the moment, it's business as usual, when there is business, that is. Don't write the country off just yet.

Cheers

C.

Hey, can you post the article about the two Egyptians who were kidnapped at the Grand Canyon?

 

[skyguy94]

I couldn't find the article about the Egyptians kidnapped at the Grand Canyon, but I found quite a few articles about foreign tourists murdered in Florida (like this one: Florida shooting: Brit tourists killed in machine gun attack were lured to their deaths, fear police - mirror.co.uk ). I spent a month in Egypt last year, from Dec 15th-till Jan 18th, and enjoyed every moment of it. I'd love to go back and dive in the South Red Sea at some point. I think that comparing Egypt to Afghanistan or Iraq is rather silly at this point. Heck, comparing Iraq and Afghanistan is silly.

 

[Crowley]

I think the "Egyptians kidnapped at grand canyon" might have been a red herring however a quick google found an article about a Japanese tourist kidnapped and killed at the Grand Canyon in 2006 and also a whole bunch of headlines wherein tourists have been assaulted, robbed or murdered in foreign countries - just the first couple of pages gave locations such as Mexico, Brazil, Florida, New York, Philippines and Israel... are any of these locations also becoming the new Afghanistan?

I am not in anyway excusing the recent events here in Egypt, however tourists of all nationalities in all countries are often an easy target, especially if they wander off the beaten track so to speak. They carry money, cellphones and expensive cameras, get a bit lost and are assaulted and robbed, sometimes murdered. As I mentioned before, the French tourist killed in Sharm was a terrible accident, he was not deliberately targeted. The two Americans who were kidnapped on their way to St. Catherine's - along with their Egyptian guide, were apparently in a party of 5... the other three were not held hostage. Possibly the Bedouin saw them as more "valuable" targets, in terms of publicity and potential damage to the Egyptian government - such as it is - which lets us not forget receives around 1.5billion dollars of military aid from the United States... just me speculating, of course.

Searcaigh - middle east peace conferences have been regularly held in Sharm over the years - if it's good enough for heads of state and the secretary general of the UN, I reckon they could fit you in somewhere. It's also much nicer than Cairo, with better diving! ;-)


I'm actually out of the country on holiday at the moment and yes - I still worry about the future of the country (and my own existence there - see my blog), and I am concerned about the large numbers of conservatives in the political arena but I do not, at least at this point in time, think it has become a dangerous place to visit. For sure there are problems, but most ordinary folk just want to get on and do their job and earn a living. A mistaken attitude that the country has become unsafe for all foreigners is really not helping. I don't blame people for staying away when all they see is what's on international TV, but it would be nice if some people broadened their perspectives a little.

Cheers again,

C.