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Egyptian gunmen free Western hostages

INT68International/CrimeEgyptian gunmen free Western hostagesCairo, Sep 29 Xinhua Nineteen Western tourists and their Egyptian guides, who were kidnapped by gunmen in southern Egypt last week, released them Monday without any ransom being paid, state-run MENA news agency reported. All the hostages are in good health, the report said quoting an Egyptian official.The hostages included five Germans, five Italians and a Romanian, while the remaining eight people were Egyptian guides.The hostages were taken to Cairo by an airplane.The tourists were on a trip to the country's southern desert at the time of the incident. Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak expressed happiness over the release of the hostages. The Sudanese army said that six of the abductors were killed in an encounter Sunday in the Jabal Owainat area along the Sudanese border. Officials said the gunmen had taken the hostages to Sudan and Libya before release. --Xinhuasnb/vt166 Words29092120