CAIRO: The two American tourists and their Egyptian guide were released on Monday evening by the Bedouin man who had been holding them since Friday demanding the release of his imprisoned uncle, Egyptian security sources said. Michel Louis, 61, and Lissa Alphonse, 39, were handed over to security in the Northern Sinai town of al-Arish, along with their Egyptian guide on a central Sinai road, four days after they were abducted. On Saturday and Sunday, Egyptian security officials said they were boosting efforts to release the pair, which apparently paid off. Security sources said the kidnapper had been demanding an exchange of his jailed uncle for the tourists, who hail from Boston and were on a religious pilgrimage to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. According to reports, the two had been in a car with their Egyptian guide when tribesmen attacked the vehicle and grabbed them, nearly one month after a Singaporean tourist was snatched in the Peninsula. Kidnappings are becoming more commonplace in an area where Egyptian security forces are limited. All those taken hostage have been released unharmed, even commenting on the positive treatment they received. The Bedouin, who feel disenfranchised by decades of neglect from the central government in Cairo, have upped their pressure by nabbing foreign tourists in order to push for the release of tribesmen detained, most often not charged, by Egypt's security. This is not the first time US citizens have been take. In May, two American tourists were kidnapped near the Red Sea resort of Dahab. They were released after less than 24 hours in captivity.
