Eleven European tourists and their eight Egyptian guides, who were kidnapped in Egypt last Friday, have been moved into Libya by their kidnappers, according to the Sudanese government. The Associated Press (AP) reports the kidnappers and their hostages had been under surveillance in Sudan, where they were originally held, but relocated on Thursday.

Sudanese troops "monitored" the kidnappers as they drove in three 4x4 vehicles from the Oweinat Mountain area in northwest Sudan and crossed the border into Libya, Sudanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ali Youssef told The Associated Press. ...

The kidnappers took their captives 10 miles inside Libyan territory on Thursday and are still on the move, Youssef said. Libyan authorities have been brought into the coordination between Egypt and Sudan on the abduction, he said, adding that he did not know the reason for the move.

The 11 European tourists and their eight Egyptian guides and drivers were kidnapped by gunmen while on a desert safari to Gilf al-Kebir, a remote desert plateau famed for its prehistoric cave drawings in the far southeast corner of Egypt, near the Libyan and Sudanese borders. The group included five Germans, five Italians and a Romanian — and two of the Italians are in their 70s.

The Egyptian government told AP that it had no information about the move to Libya, however, and Libya did not immediately comment on the report.

Mr. Youssef also said Khartoum now believes the kidnappers are Sudanese, rather than Egyptian. The Daily Telegraph reports that the Sudanese government claimed the kidnappers are tied to rebel groups in Darfur, but a rebel spokesman denied the charge, calling it "propaganda from the government of Sudan."

According to the BBC, Egyptian officials say the kidnappers are demanding several million dollars in ransom for the European tourists. The BBC notes that Gilf al-Kebir, which was featured in the 1996 film The English Patient, is near "chronic conflict areas" in Sudan and Chad, but is largely unpopulated and lacks a police presence.

Reuters reports that while the kidnapping of tourists is new to the area, greater numbers of desert bandits have been seen along Egypt's borders with Sudan and Chad in the past year.

The desert has long been used by smugglers running trucks full of African refugees fleeing north to Libya and beyond. But in recent months, heavily armed bandits have appeared on the scene in smaller pick-ups mounted with machineguns, guides say. ...

"Guides would go there (near the border) and see these machinegun-mounted cars," said Amr Shannon, one of Egypt's most prominent desert guides. "The signs were there prior to this year ... But the first piracy I heard of was this year."

Mahmoud Nour El-Din, an experienced guide and co-founder of Khaset Expeditions, said: "This is all very new – a kidnapping and armed people and things like that."

He added that even the people-smugglers had expressed "big time" fear of being ambushed by the threatening newcomers.

The guides also said two groups of tourists were robbed by bandits earlier this year.

Concerns about the kidnapping's impact on the tourist trade may have led the Egyptian government to stifle press coverage of the event. The New York Times writes the kidnapping "at first raised fears of a potentially crippling blow to tourism, one of the main pillars of the Egyptian economy."

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