Egypt in direct talks with kidnappers, optimistic about 'good outcome'

Cairo: Egypt is in direct talks with kidnappers who seized 19 hostages including European tourists last week, and negotiators are optimistic about reaching a "good outcome" soon, an Egyptian government source said on Thursday.

"There are negotiations ongoing with the kidnappers now. The Egyptian negotiating team is working to get the hostages released in coordination with its Sudanese and German counterparts," an Egyptian source said.

The source said he was not aware of the content of the talks, but that the team members were optimistic that they could "reach a good outcome soon". He said the Egyptians became involved in the direct talks on Wednesday. The Germans were reported to have been in talks earlier, state media said.

Four or five masked men kidnapped the adventure tourists -- five Germans, five Italians, a Romanian and eight Egyptians - last week while they were on a desert safari from the Egyptian oasis of Dakhla to the Gilf Al Kabir plateau in the desert.

Sudan said on Wednesday that the hostages were alive and well, and that Sudanese and Egyptian security forces were watching them from a distance, avoiding a showdown that might result in loss of life.

The kidnappers are holding them just inside Sudanese territory near Jebel Oweinat, which at 1,900 metres is the highest peak for hundreds of kilometres.

The kidnappers have threatened to kill the hostages if authorities try to find them by plane, an Egyptian official with strong security ties said earlier in the week, although the country's tourism minister was quoted on state media denying there was any such threat.

Egyptian security sources have said that the kidnappers have demanded 6 million euros ($8.8 million) ransom.