All 11 Western tourists and eight Egyptians taken hostage by gunmen in a remote border area of Egypt have been freed and are in good health.
State-run Egyptian television added that the hostages, who were held captive for 10 days, were on their way back to Cairo.
The 19 hostages, who include five Germans, five Italians, a Romanian and eight Egyptian drivers and tour guides, were kidnapped by armed bandits while on safari in Aswan, a remote corner of southwestern Egypt.
The gang had agreed to release them in return for a ransom before Sudanese troops killed six hostage-takers, according to an Egyptian security official.
Sudanese forces also arrested two of the gang in a shootout after spotting them in the Sudan-Egypt-Libya border area.
Egyptian special forces were involved in an operation inside Chadian territory to free the hostages.
The kidnappers had demanded that Germany take charge of payment of a €6m ransom to be handed over to the German wife of the tour organiser, who is among the hostages.
A news alert on Egyptian state television quoted an Egyptian official saying that no ransom was paid to free the hostages.
Sudan says the kidnappers belong to a splinter Darfur rebel group, the Sudanese Liberation Army-Unity (SLA-Unity).
An SLA-Unity spokesman denied his group's involvement, but warned that the hostages might be harmed if force were used against the bandits.
