An Egyptian tour guide accused of kidnapping four German tourists in March, tried to kill his estranged German wife in 1988, state security court prosecutor Sameh Seif said Thursday, quoted by AFP.
Ibrahim Said Moussa "attempted in 1988 to kill his ex-wife, a German national, who wanted a divorce after five years of marriage. He was sentenced at the time to a prison term, but had fled,” Deif told the court.
The hostage-taking was a bid "to force the Egyptian authorities to intervene in order to bring his children back,” the prosecutor added.
Moussa is accused of having taken four Germans hostage for three days in the southern pharaonic temple city of Luxor in mid-March. He has told the high state security court in Cairo that the German tourists went with him voluntarily.
But reports said then that he threatened to start the killing of the four hostages if his estranged German wife did not hand over custody of his sons.
The German foreign ministry has said the kidnapper had been armed with a pistol and grenades.
The hostages were freed unharmed following telephone contacts for more than three days between the kidnapper and the Egyptian and German authorities.
If no mitigating circumstances are found, Moussa could be sentenced to life in prison with hard labor if he is convicted of the charges of kidnapping and illegally detaining people.
Moussa had previously been married to another German woman, said AFP – Albawaba.com
