CAIRO: Bedouin tribesmen are reported to have kidnapped two Brazilian tourists along with their Egyptian tour guide and a policeman in Egypt's Sinai desert, a security official told Bikyamasr.com on the condition of anonymity. The kidnappers abducted them from a bus, the official said. Egypt's security forces claim to be in contact with Bedouin tribal leaders to secure the release of the two Brazilian women and the two Egyptians, the official added. It was the latest in a series of abductions by tribesmen in the Sinai Peninsula to demand the release of relatives detained by the police. In February, two US tourists were abducted and released hours later. The Bedouin tribes of the Sinai have been largely marginalized by the Egyptian government long before Mubarak came to power in 1981, and they exist almost outside of regular Egyptian society—Bedouins are not allowed to enlist in the police force, for example. Egypt is heavily reliant on tourism, and these periodic reports of abductions have done nothing to assuage the concern in the safety of foreign tourists. Tourism has seen at least a 30 per cent drop since the 2011 popular uprising that ousted the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak. The Sinai is immensely popular with high-end, five-star hotels and resorts, and too, budget-inclined backpackers. The scuba diving that is available on the Red Sea coast is considered world class. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/zbSxu Tags: Abduct, Bedouins, featured, Sinai, Tourists Section: Egypt, Latest News, Travel
