ADEN, 29 December 2005 — Yemeni tribesmen kidnapped a family of five Germans in the eastern Shabwa province yesterday, demanding the release of a jailed clansman in exchange of releasing the hostages.

Armed men from Al-Abdallah tribe of the Shabwa province, some 460 km east of the capital Sanaa, snatched the five Germans from a restaurant on a road linking Shabwa with Aden and took them at gunpoint to the mountainous Al-Saeed district of Shabwa, government officials said.

The hostages were identified as former Deputy Foreign Minister Juergen Chrobog, his wife Magda Gohar-Chrobog, and their three children.

A Yemeni Interior Ministry official confirmed the kidnapping and said police located the place where the hostages were being held.

“We located their place and security forces were deployed to seal off the area,” said the official, who requested anonymity.

Local officials in Shabwa said tribal leaders and security officials began negotiations with the kidnappers to secure a prompt and safe release of the hostages.

The kidnappers are demanding that one of their tribe members be released from prison in Aden, local officials reported.

The detained man was sentenced to death two days ago by an Aden court, that convicted him of killing a man from the rival Al-Raid tribe.

This is the fourth case of kidnapping of Westerners this year in Yemen.

Last week, two Austrian tourists were abducted by armed tribesmen in the northeastern province of Marib and released unharmed three days later.

On Nov. 21, tribesmen from the Abida tribe, seeking the release of an imprisoned relative, kidnapped a Swiss tourist and his wife in Marib and released them later in the day.

Armed tribesmen seeking the release of an imprisoned fellow clansman kidnapped three Spanish tourists for nearly 12 hours on Aug. 8 in Shabwa.

Armed tribesmen from impoverished areas often take hostages and use them as bargaining chips with the government to press for aid, jobs or the release of detained clansmen.

Most of the hostages have been released unharmed. However, in 1998 a militant group kidnapped 16 Western tourists, four of whom died in a botched rescue attempt by police forces.