Gunmen kidnap 2 Americans and an Egyptian in Sinai

FOX NEWS ^ | 2/3/2012

[SoFloFreeper]

Two security officials say gunmen have kidnapped two Americans and their Egyptian tour guide after stopping a minivan carrying the group near St. Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai. The military and police officials say the abductors sped away in a sedan and a pickup truck, leaving behind three other people who had been in the minivan. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information, did not know the nationalities of those left behind. Authorities say a search is under way. Egypt has faced deteriorating security and a surge in crime since the popular uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak nearly a year ago. Protesters accuse the military council that has assumed power and the police force of negligence.

[SoFloFreeper]

FUNNY how there weren't kidnappings like this when Mubarak was in power...because for all his faults, he kept the Sinai safe for tourism.

Obama cheers on the Muslim brotherhood, so I think Obama bears some responsibility for the conditions that encouraged these kidnappers.

This site, by the way, the monastery of St. Katherine, is near the traditional site of Mount Sinai, where Moses received the Torah.

[CondorFlight]

I’m concerned (worried) for the abductees, of course.

But who in the world would be traveling now through the Sinai in a minivan? Don’t they read the news? Don’t they know the Bedouin and various terrorist groups are battling for turf and smuggling rights there, and that the Egyptian government does NOT have the place under control?

I know that, and I’m not planning a trip to go there; if I were, wouldn’t I research and find those things out?)

That said, I hope they come home safely.

[Boogieman]

There’s an Egyptian woman at my work who visited there a few months ago. She is muslim herself, and even she said she would not go visit there again as long as conditions remain like this.