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The latest from CNN.com:

ALGIERS, Algeria -- The Algerian military denied reports Monday that 15 kidnapped European tourist hostages had been freed but said its forces were working for their release.

The 15 hostages -- 10 Germans, four Swiss and a Dutchman -- were abducted in mid-February by an Islamic group while on an adventure tour in a remote region of the Sahara desert. Another group of 17 hostages was freed last Tuesday.

"All efforts are continuing," the Algerian military said in a statement carried by the official APS news agency. It said the military "formally denied ... reports stating that the second group of hostages were liberated."

The Arabic-language daily El Youm quoted unnamed sources close to security forces as saying the hostages were released unharmed on Sunday. It did not provide further details.

French-language daily Le Jeune Independent said talks were still underway, but that a negotiated released appeared imminent, citing unidentified Algerian officials.

Algerian security sources and a Western diplomat had earlier told Reuters the tourists had been freed.

Another security source told Reuters that a German airliner had arrived in the capital Algiers to collect the 10 Germans who along with four Swiss and a Dutchman had been held hostage.

Algerian special troops have been scouring the Sahara since last Thursday for the remaining European tourists.

Military sources and Algerian newspapers said the last 15 Europeans were being held in caves -- close to the southern Tuareg city -- by a cell of an Algerian Islamist militant group, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC).

Authorities were worried news of the rescue of 17 tourists last Tuesday may have alerted the other kidnappers -- a second GSPC cell. The hostages vanished more than two months ago while traveling without guides in a scenic region bordering Libya, Mali and Niger.

This region is more difficult to access than the previous kidnap location because of its labyrinth of caves and rugged mountain terrain.

A portion of a poster released by the German Federal Criminal Office showing tourists who vanished.
The 10 Austrians, six Germans and one Swede freed last week were flown home via Algiers Wednesday.

The four-year-old GSPC is led by Hassan Hattab and, along with the decade-old Armed Islamist Group (GIA), has been fighting a bloody war against Algerian authorities to create a purist Islamist state.

The decade of violence has led to more than 100,000 deaths.

Authorities believe the GSPC -- which has not previously kidnapped tourists -- has ties to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, which U.S. authorities said may be behind the multiple suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia on Monday.

Thousands of troops were sent to search the Sahara for the missing Europeans in March, and authorities have criticized the "adventure holidaymakers" for traveling in 4 x 4 vehicles without guides in the Algerian Sahara stretching two million square kilometers (772,000 square miles).

The hostage-taking comes at an awkward time for the oil-rich Maghreb nation just getting back on to its feet with an inflow of foreign investment and visitors after a decade of violence.