Islamic militants abduct 19 Europeans in Egypt in £5million ransom plot

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.

"They have been kidnapped and they have been moved outside the Egyptian borders by four criminals," Tourism Minister Zoheir Garrana said. "This is a gang act by masked men."

Visitors queue outside the temple of Abu Simbel in Egypt's Nile Valley (file photo)

Security sources said the kidnappers were asking for 6million euros (£4.8million)  to free the hostages, identified as five Italians, five Germans, one Romanian and eight Egyptians.

They said there was no indication militant Islamists were involved.

Egypt's army scoured the border area on Monday for signs of the tourists, who were believed to have been seized on Friday by four masked men while on a desert safari in a remote area where the borders of Egypt, Sudan and Libya meet.

Tourism Minister Garrana said authorities learned of the kidnapping after a tour operator called his wife and told her he was being held hostage with the group.

Egyptian state television said those held included an Egyptian border guard officer.

Garrana initially said negotiations were under way with the kidnappers, but later told Egyptian television that there were no such talks.

'There are no negotiations with the kidnappers because there has been no official contact made by them asking the Egyptian government to intervene,' Garrana said.

Garrana said the kidnappers were 'most likely' Sudanese nationals, and state news agency MENA said the kidnappers were believed to have taken the hostages toward Sudanese territory. Security sources said they may have crossed the border.

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano said he was in close contact with the foreign ministry on any developments

One security source said the kidnappers may be citizens of nearby Chad, where both Sudanese and Chadian rebels operate. Another security source said the kidnappers could be Egyptian.

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano was following the situation with 'great concern' and was in close contact with the foreign ministry on developments, his office said in a statement.

Attacks on tourists in Egypt's Nile Valley have been rare in recent years, although a series of bombings targeted tourists in resorts in the Sinai Peninsula between 2004 and 2006. Egypt blamed the Sinai attacks on Bedouin with militant views.

Militant Islamists launched a series of attacks on tourists in the Nile Valley in the 1990s.

But the Gama'a al-Islamiya, or Islamic Group, halted attacks amid popular uproar after six of its members slaughtered dozens of foreign tourists at Queen Hatshepsut's temple in the southern town of Luxor in 1997.

Al Qaeda leaders often condemn Egypt's government as a corrupt U.S. puppet and call for its overthrow. Deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri said in a message this month it was among governments 'imposed by the Crusader-Zionist campaign (on Islam).'