Yemen tribesmen free German hostage

Sana'a: A German engineer and two other Yemeni colleagues were released on Tuesday after being held for two days by armed tribesmen in Shabwa province, east of Yemen, local sources said.

The release came after a successful tribal mediation that convinced the kidnappers that their demands would be met, said the sources who were among the mediators.

The kidnappers had demanded the release of a relative jailed by the government for murder charges.

The local sources added that a high profile military commander exerted efforts to convince the kidnappers to release the three hostages.

A military campaign has been surrounding the kidnappers and the three hostages since last Sunday when the tribesmen kidnapped them from Al Rawdha area; around 30 kilometers from their project's site at the Arabian Sea port of Balhaf, Shabwa province east of Yemen.

The German expert and the two Yemeni engineers were supervising works at a gas pipeline being implemented by the Amecspie Hawk, a sub-contractor with the Yemen Liquefied Natural Gas company (Yemen LNG) that runs a giant gas project at Balhaf Sea port.

Amecspie Hawk is building the 320-kilometre-long pipeline from the oil refinery in Mareb to the LNG exporting port of Balhaf.

Armed tribesmen in Yemen use, from time to time, the kidnapping of foreigners to the pressure the government to meet their demands which include releasing relatives from prisons, and development services for their areas.