CAIRO: The two female American citizens reported to have been kidnapped earlier on Friday have been released, Al Jazeera news network reported early in the evening Cairo time. The female tourists and their guide had been reportedly kidnapped in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Friday near St. Katherine's monastery about an hour away from the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh. According to security sources, Bedouin gunmen stopped the bus they were traveling in and took them, although the US Embassy in Cairo had not confirmed their nationality as of Friday late afternoon. Maj. Gen. Mohammed Naguib, the southern Sinai's head of security, was quoted by CBS News as saying the kidnappers of the Americans were driving a “sedan and a pickup truck and sped away into the mountains after seizing the two women, who were returning from the monastery to the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.” The US embassy said in a statement before their release that they were currently looking into the matter. “Egyptian authorities have confirmed to us that two tourists, who they say are American citizens, have been kidnapped in Sinai,” the embassy said in a press statement. “We are trying to confirm their citizenship and in the meantime are working closely with the Egyptian authorities to do everything possible to ensure the tourists' safety,” it added. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/xwp3z Tags: Americans, featured, Sinai, Tourist Section: Egypt, Latest News
