Missing Saharan tourists 'foolhardy'

Missing Saharan tourists 'foolhardy'

The tourists were travelling without guides

The 31 European tourists who have gone missing in the Sahara desert have been described as foolhardy by Algerian tour operators and officials.

The hunt is still on for the travellers who disappeared in southern Algeria's vast desert, some of them six weeks ago.

Algerian tourism officials told the French news agency the tourists had brought their fate on themselves because they had travelled without the help of guides who know the desert terrain.

The missing tourists - who were in seven separate groups - all used Global Positioning Systems (GPS), which rely on satellites to help travellers establish their exact location.

The desert is fragile, we must not destroy it. It is part of our heritage and we must preserve it, but some people are oblivious of this

Algerian tour operator

Some of the tourists who are feared kidnapped have left a message in the desert saying they are alive, an Austrian spokesman said.

German websites

A number of websites in German have been established to promote independent travel in the part of Algeria's Sahara where the European tourists went missing.

They promise explorers of the region that they will find artefacts dating from the Stone Age.

"The attraction of making these discoveries, combined with the lure of making money by trading in the artefacts, could possibly push some people to underestimate the difficulties of the desert, where there were violent sandstorms in March," one Algerian operator said.

"The desert is fragile, we must not destroy it. It is part of our heritage and we must preserve it, but some people are oblivious of this," he added.

The tourists include 15 Germans, 10 Austrians,four Swiss nationals, a Dutchman and a Swede.

Kidnap theories

The theory that the Europeans have been kidnapped has been gaining ground, says the BBC's Mohamed Arezki Himeur in Algiers.

Media reports in Algeria have suggested that militant groups linked to Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network could be behind the disappearances.

Attention has focused on militant Islamist leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar, who operates in the region.

An Algerian army officer taking part in the search has said he believes the 31 people are alive, but no longer in Algeria.

"I don't think they are in Algeria, nor that they are dead or lost in the desert," he told the Algerian newspaper L'Expression.