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| Europe |
| Former German Ambassador & Family Kidnapped in Yemen |
| 2005-12-28 |
| A former German government minister, his wife and three children were kidnapped in Yemen on Wednesday, local officials said, and one of their captors said their lives would be at risk if Yemen used force to free them. Germany's Foreign Ministry said former junior Foreign Minister Juergen Chrobog and four family members were missing in Yemen. A Yemeni official said the group were seized during a trip to the eastern Shabwa province from the port city of Aden. "They are safe. But if force is used to free them, the hostages' lives would be put in danger," one of the kidnappers from the al-Abdullah tribe told Reuters by telephone. His words contrasted with an earlier statement in which he said that the Germans' lives were not in danger and that they were his tribe's "guests". He gave no reason for the change in his position. He said he hoped the kidnapping -- the third involving Westerners this year -- would put pressure on the government of Yemen to free five of his fellow tribesmen who are in jail on criminal charges including murder. "We were forced to do this to focus the government's attention to our cause," he said. Armed tribal groups in Yemen, a poor country at the tip of the Arabian peninsula where central government control is often weak, seize tourists frequently. They are usually freed unharmed after negotiations. The al-Abdullah tribe is not known to have been involved in previous kidnappings. Last week, Yemeni tribesmen seized two Austrians. A month ago, another group of tribesmen captured two Swiss tourists. Both kidnappings were aimed at pressuring the government to free jailed relatives and all tourists were released unharmed. Chrobog, 65, was Germany's ambassador to the United States from 1995 to 2001. In 2003, he was the top diplomat dealing with Europeans abducted in the Sahara desert and was able to secure the release of 14 hostages, including nine Germans. How ironic. A ransom was paid, of course. |
| Posted by:ST |