Foreign Policy Blogs

Kidnapped Tourists in Egypt – First Political Repercussions

AP is reporting that the Sudanese Military killed six and captured two kidnappers after a high-speed desert chase on Sunday. According to the two captured kidnappers the tourists are being held hostage in Chad.

The interesting part of the article is that the Sudanese Government linked the eight kidnappers to a rebel group in Darfur. But the head of that group, Mohammad Abdullah, denies any link, claiming that the Government of Sudan is exploiting the situation as an excuse to target his group.

This seems to be the first instance we have of an entity using the kidnapping incident to advance a political agenda. More to come.

 

Author

Matthew Axelrod

Mr. Axelrod most recently researched the US-Egypt defense relationship in Cairo on a Fulbright grant, after serving as the Country Director for Egypt and North Africa in the Office of the Secretary of Defense from 2005-2007. He entered the government as a Presidential Management Fellow, rotating through the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the U.S. Embassy in Egypt, and the Pentagon. He graduated from Georgetown University in 2003 with a BS in Foreign Service and an MA in Arab Studies.