Two american tourists kidnapped

The abduction of two American women and their Egyptian guide at gunpoint along a major highway in Egypt's Sinai peninsula Friday is the latest blow to the country's crucial tourism industry, already in tatters as violence escalates a year after the revolution that ousted strongman Hosni Mubarak. The two tourists were reportedly given into army custody hours after their arrest.Local officials told the Press the attackers were Bedouin tribesmen who resist government control and have been blamed for a few attacks in the last couple of months as tensions intensify between them and authorities they accuse of discrimination. Last month the group siezed 50 german soldiers.