SANAA, 20 January 2008 — Twelve Belgian tourists who survived a shooting attack on their convoy in Yemen that killed two of their compatriots returned home aboard a flight from Sanaa yesterday, Yemen’s tourism minister said.
“Two lightly wounded people, victims of the armed attack, are among the group of Belgian tourists who departed at dawn aboard a regular flight for their country,” Nabil Al-Faqih said.
“The bodies of the two Belgian women killed and another injured Belgian tourist were transferred overnight to Sanaa,” and arrangements are being made in coordination with the Belgian authorities for their repatriation, he added.
The attackers were said to have opened fire on a bus carrying the 15 Belgians in the eastern province of Hadramaut’s Do’an Valley, before they fled the scene in a car.
Yemen yesterday offered a 15 million Yemeni rial ($75,000) reward for information leading to the capture of the gunmen who killed the Belgian tourists and their two drivers, a security official said.
Yemeni officials have not ruled out Al-Qaeda involvement in the attack and are searching for the attackers though no one has claimed responsibility for the shooting. “We do not dismiss Al-Qaeda’s involvement, considering the style of the attack and the group’s frequent threats against foreign interests in the region,” a government official said.
The tourists had an emotional homecoming in Brussels later yesterday. They were whisked away from the airport terminal, and members of their families, who had been awaiting their arrival, were taken to a undisclosed location by bus to meet their loved ones.
Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht said on Friday that the tourists should have known Yemen was a dangerous place to visit.
De Gucht did not confirm suggestions in Yemen that Al-Qaeda was responsible, saying the area was out of the government’s control and also had “tribal problems”.
Yesterday morning, a Yemeni security official said “dozens of suspects had been detained,” but gave no details.
Hadramaut Gov. Taha Hajir had said on Friday that security teams had set up roadblocks in the area and helicopters had been deployed to locate those responsible for the “criminal incident.”
The European Union expressed its condolences to the families of two women killed, and urged the Yemeni government to bring the killers to justice.
Current EU president Slovenia expressed “its sincere condolences to the families of the two Belgian tourists and their Yemenite driver.
“This is the second time in little more than six months that European tourists have been attacked and killed by criminals in Yemen,” a statement said. “The EU presidency strongly condemns all forms of violence and calls on the government of Yemen to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice.”
The Yemeni foreign minister telephoned De Gucht and “renewed Yemen’s commitment in cooperation with the international community to combat terrorism that threatens security and stability in the world,” the official Saba news agency reported.
The Belgian group had been traveling to the city of Shibam, which lies around 450 km east of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.
The 16th century city is a UNESCO World Heritage site and has been dubbed the “Manhattan of the Desert” for its distinctive, tower-like structures.
Last July, seven Spanish tourists and two local drivers were killed when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into their convoy at an ancient temple in Yemen. Six Spaniards, two Yemeni drivers and four police guards escorting them were wounded.
