Luxor, Egypt — An Egyptian tour guide released four German tourists early today that he had held for more than three days in a desperate bid to end a child custody dispute, police said. He then surrendered peacefully.
A police official at the scene, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the release and surrender. He said doctors examined the hostages and found them to be unharmed. Hours before, Ibrahim Ali el-Sayyed Moussa had said he regretted threats he made to kill his hostages unless his German wife brought the couple's two sons back from Germany.
During a mobile telephone call earlier to The Associated Press, Moussa said he would end the drama.
At about 2:30 a.m. Egyptian time, a man was seen being led to a police van in a residential neighborhood near the ancient Karnak temple in the modern tourist city of Luxor. Police did not allow reporters any closer to the scene.
Police said Moussa's German wife, whom he married in 1991, returned to her country with their two sons, aged 7 and 3, a year and a half ago following a marital dispute.
Moussa also has a teen-age daughter from a previous marriage who lives in Egypt with her father, according to police.
Moussa, 45, allegedly kidnapped the four Germans Monday near Luxor, about 280 miles south of Cairo. He was reportedly armed with a handgun and an explosive device and holding his hostages at his home just south of Luxor, a major tourist attraction near temples and Tutankhamen's tomb.
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