The officials in Abyan province say the two were released Friday after tribal mediation.
The Swedish man, an engineer at a cement factory in south Yemen, was kidnapped late Thursday by armed tribesmen who wanted to use a hostage to negotiate the release of a fellow tribe member who was sentenced to death in a Yemeni court.
A Yemen security official said the man was released after security forces agreed to review the Yemeni prisoner’s sentencing.
Abyan’s deputy governor, Saleh Al-Shamsi, said the kidnappers were demanding the release of a fellow tribesman jailed in Sanaa.
The Swede was in good health after his ordeal, the official added.
“The Swede was freed after the kidnappers received assurances from the local government that President Ali Abdullah Saleh would personally review the case of one of their clansmen,” said the official.
A security official said earlier that the kidnappers were believed to be members of the Maraqish tribe, which has been campaigning for the release of a clansman on death row in Sanaa.
Meanwhile, clashes between rebels and a pro-government tribe in the mountains of northern Yemen late Thursday evening killed a tribesman and two rebels, the tribe’s leader said.
“Armed rebels attacked our men Thursday evening in Nuchur, near Saada town, killing one of them and wounding two,” said Fayez Al-Awjari, who is also a member of Parliament for the area.
“We organized an expedition and, in clashes lasting several hours, two rebels were killed and five wounded,” Awjari said Friday.
He said the fighting came just 24 hours after Qatari envoys had visited Saada, a rebel stronghold on the Saudi border, in their latest bid to negotiate the peaceful return of government employees to offices in the province under a February peace deal with the rebels.
“Tensions are running very high and clashes could resume at any moment,” Awjari said, adding that he was keeping his tribesmen on a war footing.
Outbreaks of fighting have repeatedly rattled the fragile truce which the government and the rebels agreed in February.
In July, there were nine days of deadly clashes between the rebels and the army. The following month, deadly fighting between rebels and pro-government tribes was only brought under control after a new Qatari-brokered agreement on implementing the February deal.
There have been six rounds of fighting between the rebels and government troops since the uprising first erupted in 2004. The conflict has killed thousands of people and left hundreds of thousands homeless.
The last round began with a government offensive in August 2009 and saw border clashes between the rebels and Saudi troops. It ended with February’s six-point peace plan.
The rebels complain that while they have freed government troops they captured during the fighting, hundreds of their own supporters remain in custody.
They are also demanding that the government honor pledges to spend more on developing the northern provinces.
