Freed Hostages Released In The Sahara Contradict Official Government Reports

Released German hostages, of whom no names were made public, leave an airplane at the airport Tegel in Berlin, Germany, Sept. 30, 2008. Five Germans who were part of a 19-member tourist group kidnapped in Egypt and taken by their abductors on a dash through the Sahara Desert and returned to their home countries on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Herbert Knosowski)

Freed Hostages Recount Chaotic Release In Sahara
-- Breitbart/AP

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - A European tour group kidnapped in the Sahara Desert was abruptly freed after a phone call to one of the captors, and all 19 hostages piled into a single car, some clinging to the roof as they drove 200 miles to safety.

The accounts Tuesday by the freed Europeans and their Egyptian guides contradicted reports from Egyptian security officials who described a dramatic rescue involving gun battles between Egyptian forces and the hostages, with state news agency quoting the defense minister that half the kidnappers had been killed.

As their captivity dragged into its 10th night, one of their captors received a phone call, the Egyptian drivers said from the hospital.

"They told all the Egyptians to stand in one line and they cocked their weapons, and at that moment we thought we were dead," Hassan Abdel Hakim, 45, told The Associated Press. "Suddenly the man told us to take one car and leave—there were 19 of us packed into one car, some on the roof."

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My Comment: So much for the spin from the Egyptian Government that it was their special forces that rescued these hostages after a car chase and gun battle.