Search
Yemen tribesmen release Japanese women hostages
SANAA (AFP) - - Yemeni tribesmen have released two Japanese women holidaymakers who were kidnapped Wednesday while on their way to a tourist site in the region of Marib, a tribal chief said.
"The two hostages have been released," said Sheikh Mohammed Hassan bin Muaili, head of the Muaili tribe, to which the kidnappers belonged.
The two Japanese women were kidnapped as they travelled by road to the site of the ancient Marib Dam, a major tourism draw, a local official told AFP earlier in the day.
Yemen's defence ministry news website September.net confirmed the release of the two women.
The tribal leader told AFP that the two hostages were handed over to Sheikh Hamad bin Ali bin Jalal "who will in turn deliver them to the security authorities".
Sheikh Hamad is a higher-ranking tribal chief in the area. His intervention has secured the release of the two women, Sheikh Mohammed said.
The kidnappers have meanwhile managed to escape, according to Sheikh Mohammed.
He had told AFP earlier that the abduction by armed members of his Muaili tribe had not been sanctioned by him and that the perpetrators would be handed over to the authorities.
Sheikh Mohammed was spearheading negotiations with the kidnappers of the two Japanese, who he said were being held in the al-Wadi area of Marib, 170 kilometres (105 miles) east of the Yemeni capital.
The kidnappers were demanding the release by the central government of a member of the tribe, Malek bin Hassan bin Muaili, who had been detained on suspicion of involvement in an April 16 bombing which killed three policemen in Marib, the local official said.
Some members of the tribe appeared however to oppose turning in their relatives, he later said pointing out that he came under fire when he headed to the house of the kidnappers.
Foreigners are frequently seized by Yemen's powerful tribes for use as bargaining chips in disputes with the central government. More than 200 have been abducted over the past 15 years.
All have been freed unharmed except for three Britons and an Australian seized by Islamist militants in December 1998. They were killed when security forces stormed the kidnappers' hideout.
A policeman was wounded when security forces at a checkpoint on the road clashed with the gunmen in an attempt to free the hostages, the official said.
The tourists' driver, who was seized with them, was swiftly released.
Yemen is the ancestral homeland of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and the Marib region has seen violence by sympathisers of his jihadist network.
Last July, eight Spanish tourists and two local drivers were killed in a suicide bombing near Marib blamed on a local Al-Qaeda cell.
The region was also the scene of one of the earliest operations against Al-Qaeda by US special forces using unmanned aircraft after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
One of the world's poorest countries despite its proximity to oil-rich Saudi Arabia, Yemen also enjoys one of the world's highest rates of private gun ownership making it highly volatile.
The central government's writ extends only with difficulty beyond the major towns and in the countryside it has to contend with the power of the tribes.
Recommend this article
- Average (1 vote)
- Sign in to recommend this article »
Related Articles: Asia Pacific
- Taiwan's defense ministry says direct air links with China would threaten island's securityAP - 56 minutes ago
- SMRT puts up bus services maps at six townsChannel NewsAsia - 58 minutes ago
- Real wages growth outpaced productivity in 2007 for 2nd straight yearChannel NewsAsia - 58 minutes ago
- Unionists welcome NWC proposal to help low—wage workersChannel NewsAsia - 1 hour 1 minute ago
- Foreign diplomats to tour Myanmar cyclone hit deltaAP - 1 hour 3 minutes ago
