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| Arabia |
| Kidnapped tourists could be freed soon |
| 2005-12-22 |
| Two Austrian tourists held by Yemeni tribesmen could be freed soon as negotiations with the kidnappers are progressing well, a Yemeni official said on Thursday. "We expect them to be freed today," Abdullah al-Nassi, governor of the mountainous Marib province, where the two tourists were seized on Wednesday, told reporters. The negotiations were being conducted through senior tribesmen, officials said. In Vienna, an Austrian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman confirmed that the hostages were Austrian citizens and said a team led by the Austrian ambassador in Oman would travel to Sanaa to remain in touch with Yemeni authorities. The spokesman said one of the hostages had called friends in Austria and told them they were both well. Yemeni security sources said the kidnappers, from the Abidah tribe, captured the tourists to press the government to release fellow tribesmen jailed while trying to go to Iraq to fight U.S. forces there. It was not clear if the jailed tribesmen were linked to Islamist groups such as al Qaeda, which is waging an insurgency in Iraq and which has sympathisers in Yemen. Armed tribal groups in Yemen, a poor country at the tip of the Arabian peninsula where central government control is weak in many areas, often seize tourists. They are usually freed unharmed after negotiations. Last month two Swiss tourists were kidnapped in the same area and were later released unharmed. A tribal leader freed the couple after receiving a promise from Yemeni officials to look into the case of his imprisoned brother. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #2 Maybe they could trade a slightly used Schwarzenegger 'Ehrenring' for them. |
| Posted by: Ulerong Unairt7017 2005-12-22 21:21 |
| #1 Unlike Germany, I don't know of any Islamists imprisoned in Austria, so they must be negotiating the Euro value for the tourists. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2005-12-22 18:04 |