Militants issue ultimatum for tourists to Egypt Egyptian Prime Minister Hazem Beblawi has said Islamist militants in the Sinai peninsula are becoming a threat to foreign tourists, state TV reports. Officials say they are taking seriously a reported ultimatum by Islamist militant group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis for tourists to leave the country. The threat was reportedly made on a private Twitter account affiliated with the group, according to Reuters. The Egyptian government has struggled against rising militancy in the Sinai. The Twitter message gave all tourists until Thursday to leave Egypt or face attacks. Ansar Beit al-Maqdis has denied using social media, but Reuters says the account has spoken for the group in the past. A spokeswoman at the Egyptian embassy in London said that while the government could not be sure of the authenticity of the threat, extra precautions have been taken in recent days to protect tourists in the resort area of Sharm El Sheikh. On Monday, Germanys foreign ministry changed its travel advice, telling travellers to be cautious about going to Egypt. It specifically discouraged travel to the Nile Delta outside the urban centres of Cairo and Alexandria and to the Nile Valley south of Cairo to north of Luxor. The Islamist group earlier claimed in an official statement that it was responsible for a deadly attack on a tourist bus on Sunday. Three South Koreans and an Egyptian were killed in the attack.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Feb 2014 06:50:23 +0000
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