Singaporean Tour guide offers himself as hostage to gunmen
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Tour guide offers himself as hostage to gunmen
A Singaporean tour group leader offered himself as hostage after gunmen boarded a bus he and his tour group of 20 were on in the Sinai Peninsular during a trip to Egypt.
The Sunday Times reported that Vincent Toh and his tour group members were travelling from Sinai to Cairo when they were confronted by armed men in two vehicles on Friday around 4pm, Egypt time.
Bedoiun tribesmen boarded their bus just before the entrance to a tunnel connecting Sinai to the the town of Suez demanding that some people leave with them.
That is when Mr Toh decided to go with the abductors so that the rest of the group will be safe, according to local news reports.
The gunmen tied him up and took him to an undisclosed location.
He said they spoke little English and he just followed their instructions when they kept repeating "Go!" to him.
Mr Toh told local news reporters that the rest of the group were not harmed but were very scared.
Within an hour of Mr Toh's abduction, a member of the tour group alerted his family in Singapore, who in turn called the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).
Ambassador Tan told The Sunday Times that as soon as they received news of the incident, they alerted their contacts in the Egyptian system who were quick to make contact with the abductors and secure the release of Mr Toh, though with negotations.
The abductors asked for the release of one of their tribesmen arrested for possessing drugs in exchange for Mr Toh's release.
The Sunday Times reported that it was not clear if the demand was met.
The kidnapping ended in the early hours of yesterday morning when Mr Toh was released unharmed after about eight hours.
Around midnight on Friday, Mr Toh was on his way to El-Arish, the Mediterranean coast of northern Sinai, where an official from the Singapore Embassy met him and accompanied him back to Cairo.
The Sunday Times reported that all Singaporean members of the group of 20 that Mr Toh was leading are safe and are due to return home this morning but details of their visit to Egypt were not immediately available.
Mr Toh, who works with the Christian Communications group in Singapore, declined to be interviewed by The Sunday Times in Cairo yesterday.
MFA has issued a travel warning for Sinai and urged Singaporeans to avoid overland routes in the area.
Several other tourists have been held before for short periods by the Sinai bedouins to show their discontent over poor treatment by the Cairo government, and released unharmed.
http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20120617-353376.html
