SANAA, 1 January 2006 — Yemeni tribesmen freed five German tourists, including a former senior diplomat, yesterday, three days after taking them hostage in a mountainous area of eastern Yemen. In Berlin, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier welcomed the release, telling reporters he had spoken by telephone to Juergen Chrobog, 65, his wife and three adult sons after their release.
“He’s relieved,” said Steinmeier. “My initial impression is that he and his family have survived this without any mental or physical harm. Apparently they were fairly treated. But it was an enormous strain.” Saying Germany was “delighted at the good outcome” of the crisis, Steinmeier especially thanked Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh for his “committed and careful” approach to a solution.
In Yemen, Abdullah Al-Qadhi, secretary to the Shabwa regional governor, said the hostages were handed over to Col. Aziz Melfi and legislator Awadh Muhammad Al-Wazir. Also freed were two Yemeni drivers and a travel guide.
They were snatched by armed men of the Al-Abdallah tribe of the Shabwa province during a trip from Aden Wednesday. The kidnappers had raided a restaurant on a highway linking Shabwa with Aden.
The two officials involved in the release had been sent by President Saleh earlier in the day to Shabwa, some 460 km east of Sanaa, to help resolve problems that cropped up in implementing the deal hammered out Friday by government and tribal leaders.
The deal provided that the hostages should be freed immediately and authorities would work for the arrest of five men from a rival tribe involved in a vendetta with the Al-Abdallah tribe. The agreement also stipulated the transfer of five men of the Al-Abdallah tribe detained by police in the eastern province of Abyan to Sanaa within 72 hours.
The delay in the release of the captives is understood to have been due to the abductors’ refusal to accept guarantees presented by tribal mediators. Initially, the kidnappers insisted on the simultaneous release of their five clansmen and the German captives.
It was the fourth abduction 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.
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.
