Sudan desert firefight kills 6 kidnappers

September 29, 2008

KHARTOUM, Sudan Eight kidnappers of a group of European tourists and their Egyptian guides led soldiers on a high-speed desert chase yesterday, ending in a firefight that killed all but two of the gunmen, Sudan's military spokesman said. The two surviving kidnappers told Sudanese soldiers that the tourists were being held by 35 other gunmen in Chad, said the spokesman, Sawarmy Khaled. The desert safari tour of 11 Europeans and eight Egyptians was seized by gunmen deep in the southern Egyptian deserts Sept. 19. German officials have been negotiating with the kidnappers, who are demanding millions of dollars in ransom, but there has been no word on progress.