Six tribesmen deny forming an armed gang

Sanaa: Six Yemeni men yesterday confessed before a court to abduction of five Italians early this month but denied forming an armed gang.

The six men, who were put on trial on charges of kidnapping tourists and forming an armed gang, said that they surrendered voluntarily after negotiations with the authorities.

"We surrendered willingly, and we are in the 'face' of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and deputy minister of interior, and director of Serwah district," one of them said referring to a promise given to them by Saleh and the other two officials to solve their problems.

Chaired by Judge Najeeb Al Qaderi, the court decided to enable the defence lawyers to review their file and copy it and also allow relatives to visit the accused. The court adjourned the hearing to next week.

The six men were accused of forming an armed gang and kidnapping tourists and endangering their lives.

The defendants said they demanded the release of eight relatives detained by security authorities for the past year on murder charges.

The security authorities had arrested Najee Mohammad Al Zaydi, 20, Mohammad Saleh Al Zaydi, 30, More'e Ali Al Ameri, 35, Ali Saleh Al Zaydi, 21, Hadi Mohammad Al Ameri, 21, on January 6, after they held five Italians, including three women, captive for six days.

The writer is a journalist based in Sanaa

EPA

The accused

Yemeni tribesmen accused of kidnapping five Italian tourists during their trial at a state-security court in the capital Sanaa yesterday. Security sources had said the alleged kidnappers held five Italian tourists hostage two weeks ago in Marib province, 173km northeast of Sanaa. The men could receive the death sentence if the court convicts them on kidnapping charges.