Four French tourists may be released soon

Sanaa: Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced on Tuesday that four French tourists held captive by tribesmen for more than a week may be freed soon.

The tourists were snatched in the eastern Shabwa province and used as leverage for a prisoner exchange deal.

The tribesmen demanded that five jailed relatives be freed or they would be killed.

The president said that they were still negotiating with the kidnappers. “They will be released today, tomorrow or the day after,'' he said.

In a separate statement, Saleh announced the capture of a bodyguard for Faisal bin Shamlan who is suspected of planning terrorist attacks against American installations and the Movenpick hotel.

“We have arrested a major terrorist who was planning operations against American installations and the Movenpick hotel,'' Saleh said at a press conference prior to the presidential poll.

However, a spokesman for Faisal bin Shamlan, who is Saleh's greatest opposition challenger, said the government was using scare tactics to drum up support for the election.

"Authorities want to scare people, and tell them that change is going to bring instability," said Bin Shamlan's campaign manager Zaid Shami.

Saleh said the bodyguard is alleged to be an Al Qaida militant and appeared in a photograph standing next to the opposition candidate at a rally.

Bin Shamlan's campaign fired the alleged militant in early September after they noticed something “fishy'' about him.