Has travel to Egypt become a threat to foreigners?

The two disappeared Germans are "detained by the Egyptian authorities"

   






The parents of two young Germans who disappeared in Egypt a few weeks ago said their children were being held by the Egyptian authorities.

Mohamed El-Sabbagh, the 18-year-old father of Issa, said the German Foreign Ministry had informed him that the Egyptian authorities were holding his son in the southern city of Luxor on suspicion of involvement in terrorism-related crimes.

Al-Sabbagh told the BBC that there may be similarities in the names, between his son and one of the terrorism suspects, which caused the Egyptian authorities to detain his son.

The 23-year-old father, who also has German citizenship, said the German embassy in Cairo told him his son was also being held by the Egyptian authorities.

The man told the BBC that his son would be deported to Germany after completing the procedure for waiving Egyptian nationality, but denied his knowledge of the accusations against his son.


The German Foreign Ministry has announced the disappearance of two young men of Egyptian origin, during their visit to Egypt recently.

The foreign ministry clarified that Issa al-Sabbagh disappeared while he was coming to Egypt via Luxor International Airport on December 17, while Mahmoud Abdel Aziz disappeared on his way to Egypt via Cairo airport on 27 December

Abdel Aziz, the father of Mahmoud, said he was in contact with the German embassy in Cairo to end his son's waiver of Egyptian nationality as a condition for his release, denying his knowledge of the reasons for the Egyptian authorities' request.

Mohammed al-Sabbagh, Issa's father, expressed his happiness at the Egyptian authorities' recognition of his son's detention after he had doubts that he would be alive after he disappeared.

The German Foreign Ministry has announced that it is dealing with the issue of German citizens disappeared in Egypt, "full seriousness," The spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry to the BBC, in previous statements, the embassy to communicate with the Egyptian authorities, to find out the truth of what happened to the young people, Closely follows the developments of the two incidents.

Speculation about the disappearance of the two young Germans has increased recently, especially after the killing of Italian researcher Julio Regini, who disappeared in Cairo almost three years ago. His body was found in February 2016.