Foreign tourists kidnapped

Masked kidnappers in Egypt have seized 19 hostages including German, Italian and Romanian tourists in a remote desert area near the Sudanese and Libyan borders, Egyptian officials said yesterday.

The kidnapping was the first of foreign tourists in Egypt in living memory, although Islamic militants have hit the country's tourist industry in recent decades through bomb and shooting attacks that have killed hundreds.

"This is a gang act (by) masked men," Tourism Minister Zoheir Garrana said.