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| Arabia |
| Saudi forces rescue two German girls held in Yemen |
| 2010-05-19 |
| RIYADH - Saudi Arabia's security forces have rescued two young German girls held hostage for nearly a year in neighbouring Yemen, Riyadh said on Tuesday, but a family spokesman said their toddler brother was likely dead. The girls, reported to be between 3 and 6 years old, were members of a German family of five who have been held by kidnappers the Yemeni government believes have links to al Qaeda. The pair were said to be in a good condition. “Saudi Arabia has retrieved two German children kidnapped in Yemen,' a Saudi interior ministry spokesman said. “The two children were in a border area between the two countries.' The German family was among a group of nine foreigners taken hostage in northern Yemen in June, of which three women — two Germans and a South Korean — were later found dead. Three German family members and a Briton remain missing. “We received good news and bad news,' Reinhard Poetschke, the mother's brother, was quoted telling the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung newspaper according to an advance release. “Both daughters are free but the son is probably no longer alive. We don't know anything about the fate of the parents.' He said the family in Germany was informed about the rescue on Monday afternoon. “Now we're making preparations for the girls' return home,' he said. The German foreign minister said the rescued girls were in relatively good health and would return home on Wednesday, but he remained concerned about the remaining German hostages. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #2 Sad but true, Ed. Those girls were a valuable commodity. White girls in Yemen - considered very attractive. |
| Posted by: anon1 2010-05-19 09:24 |
| #1 Does this mean the girls' new husbands will be claiming German residency? |
| Posted by: ed 2010-05-19 00:09 |