"The two have been released after successful negotiations with the Bedouins and they are now in the North Sinai security headquarters," the official said.

 

The negotiations were being mediated by Bedouin elders, the official said, but refused to elaborate on the terms of the deal.

 

The lead kidnapper, Germy Abu Masouh, kidnapped the two, an American man and a woman -- and their guide in Egypt's lawless Sinai on Friday, demanding the release of his uncle who is being held on drugs charges.

 

Bedouins living in the Sinai, where most of Egypt's luxury resorts are concentrated, had long been marginalised under the regime of Hosni Mubarak, and the security situation there has been tense since his ouster in February last year.