Armed Bedouins are holding two American tourists and their guide after a raid on their minivan in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

Egyptian security officials said the tourists and their Egyptian guide were taken Friday as they tried to make their way from the historic St. Catherine's Monastery to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. They said negotiations for the release of the tourists were already underway, and that the Bedouins were demanding the release of some tribesmen arrested earlier in the week on drug charges.

The U.S. Embassy in Cairo said it was looking into the matter.

Bedouins have longed complained about discrimination and neglect at the hands of Egyptian officials. Friday's incident is just the latest in a series of similar kidnappings that have taken place in recent months.