VOA标准英语2008年-Tourists Kidnapped in Egypt Held in Sudan

Negotiations¹ continued for the release of 19 hostages, including 11 European tourists, who were abducted² in southern Egypt on Friday. As Derek Kilner reports from VOA's East Africa bureau in Nairobi, the hostages are currently being held in Sudan, despite earlier reports that they had been freed.

According to Egyptian officials, German authorities were in discussion with the kidnappers³ on their demand for a ransom⁴ payment, which could be as high as $15 million. The hostages include five Germans, as well as five Italians, one Romanian, and eight Egyptians.
　
Undated file picture showing Egypt's southwestern desert, where a group of tourists and Egyptians were kidnapped during an adventure safari⁵

The European tourists and the Egyptians - drivers, guides, and guards for the tour - were abducted on Friday in Gilf al-Kebir, a remote desert region famous for its prehistoric⁶ cave paintings, which was featured in the 1996 film The English Patient. The region, near the border with Sudan and Libya, also has little security presence.

The chief of protocol⁷ for Sudan's Ministry⁸ of Foreign Affairs, Ali Yussuf, said the hostages had been taken across the border into Sudan.

"They took them inside Sudan, in the area of the meeting of borders of Sudan, Egypt and Libya, towards the northwest of Sudan," he said. "They took them about 25 kilometers inside Sudan. Their location is identified. The security and armed forces authorities in Egypt and Sudan are following the situation very closely. And the Egyptian authorities are making contact with the kidnappers to see what their demands are."

Yussuf said the attackers were Egyptian. Some Egyptian officials had suggested the attackers were Sudanese.

Egypt has a history of terrorist attacks on foreign tourists, though this marks the first time tourists have been kidnapped in the country. Islamist gunmen killed over 60 people at a tourist site in Luxor in 1997. And a string of bombings attributed to militant⁹ Bedouins targeted tourist hotels in the country's Sinai Peninsula from 2004 to 2006.

Egyptian officials have said there is no indication that the kidnappers belong to a terrorist group.

An Egyptian official told the Reuters news agency the attackers had threatened to kill the hostages if authorities attempt to track the captors. But Yussuf said the Sudanese government believes the hostages have not been harmed.

"The aim of the Sudanese and Egyptian authorities is to end this kidnapping incident peacefully," Ali Yussuf said. "As far as we know until now everybody is safe, no one was hurt."

On Monday at the United Nations in New York, Egypt's foreign minister had said that the hostages had been freed. But that claim was later denied by other Egyptian officials.

 

1 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

2 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

3 kidnappers   

n.拐子，绑匪( kidnapper的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They were freed yesterday by their kidnappers unharmed. 他们昨天被绑架者释放了，没有受到伤害。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The kidnappers had threatened to behead all four unless their jailed comrades were released. 帮匪们曾经威胁说如果印度方面不释放他们的同伙，他们就要将这四名人质全部斩首。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

5 safari   

n.远征旅行(探险、考察)；探险队，狩猎队

参考例句：

• When we go on safari we like to cook on an open fire.我们远行狩猎时，喜欢露天生火做饭。
• They went on safari searching for the rare black rhinoceros.他们进行探险旅行，搜寻那稀有的黑犀牛。

6 prehistoric   

adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的

参考例句：

• They have found prehistoric remains.他们发现了史前遗迹。
• It was rather like an exhibition of prehistoric electronic equipment.这儿倒像是在展览古老的电子设备。

7 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

8 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

9 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。