Missing German tourists found

2004-11-21 21:26

Algiers - Five German tourists missing for several days in Algeria's Sahara desert were found "safe and sound" but face charges for allegedly stealing protected archaeological objects, the interior ministry said on Sunday.

The group was found on Saturday evening in the Djanet region of the North African country, about 1 700km south of the Algerian capital, the ministry said in a statement.

The Germans had entered Algeria from Tunisia on November 11 and hired a guide several days later in Djanet, as is required for travellers in the Sahara region.

After two days with the guide, they snuck away last Tuesday, prompting an "intense search" by Algerian security services, the statement said.

All five were found in the Tassili National Park in the Erg Edmer region, 95km from the town of Djanet.

The interior ministry's statement said they were found "in possession of protected archaeological objects that they had stolen from Tassili National Park".

The tourists will appear before a court for "violation of regulations regarding the movement of tourists in the Sahara and access to Tassili National Park, as well as for theft of protected archaeological objects," the statement said.

Last year, 32 European tourists were kidnapped by Islamic extremists in the same general area of the Sahara desert.

They were released after months in captivity. One of the tourists, a German woman, died of heat stroke during the ordeal.

- AP