 Five German tourists who were found on Saturday after going missing for two days in Algeria's southern Sahara region have been accused of stealing archeological artifacts, an Algerian government source said Monday. In an interview published Monday in the newspaper El Watan, the director of the Tassili National Park, Semmadi Mohamed al-Aid, said that the five had made an illegal visit to the park and would also be charged with breaking Algerian tourism regulations. | That explains why they ditched their tour guides. |
On Sunday, the Algerian APS news agency reported that police had seized 31 geological samples and 113 archeological artifacts, including ceramics, pestles, millstones and pre-historic tools, from the vehicles of the five German nationals. El Watan also reported Monday that one of the five owned an agency in Germany that sold artifacts and had made at least five visits to the region previously.
| Doing a little "tomb raiding" on the side, huh? Hope you enjoy the Algerian prison, I know they're gonna enjoy you. |
| Not quite a Turkish prison, but I wouldn't want to be there. |
After an extensive search, the group was found late Saturday some 95 kilometres from the city of Djanet and immediately arrested. If tried and convicted of the charges, they risk heavy fines and sentences of between 2 and 5 years in prison. Last year 32 European tourists were kidnapped by the GSPC terrorist group as they travelled through southern Algeria.
| Kind of makes you wonder if a few of them were also up to no good. |
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