Norway confirms abduction of Norwegian woman in Egypt

The Norwegian foreign ministry confirmed on Friday that a Norwegian national has been kidnapped in the Sinai desert in Egypt."We can confirm that a Norwegian citizen has been abducted in Egypt," Svein Michelsen, a spokesman for the Norwegian foreign ministry, said in a statement.The ministry has mobilized the necessary resources to handle the situation, said Michelsen.When they were travelling in a car between the two tourist destinations -- Nuweiba and Dahab, the Norwegian woman and an Israeli Arab man was stopped by a group of gunmen suspected to armed Bedouin tribesmen, said the Norwegian-language newspaper Aftenposten, quoting newspapers reports from Egypt and Isarel.According to earlier reports, the two tourists were kidnapped by armed tribesmen in the Egyptian governorate of South Sinai, an Egyptian security source said."Armed tribesmen intercepted the tourists' car and then forced the two tourists and their driver into their truck," the source told Xinhua anonymously, adding that the driver was later released."Security authorities are currently making intensive contacts with the tribal elders to reach the abductors," according to the security official.The kidnapping of tourists in Sinai by Bedouins repeated lately, but almost all of them were released without casualties with the help of tribe leaders.