Six tribesmen, accused of kidnapping five Italian tourists in northeastern Yemen earlier this month, appeared before a state security court in Sanaa yesterday. The six men, Ali Saleh Ubad Al-Zaidi, 24, Muryee Ali Ahmad Al-Ameri, 35, Ubad Saleh Al-Zaidi, 21, Naji Mahdi Al-Zaidi, 20, Hadi Muhammad Ali Al-Ameri, 24, and Muhammad Saleh Al-Zaidi, 30, appeared in court in handcuffs and blue prison uniforms. Chief prosecutor Saeed Al-Aaqil read out the charges saying that the six men, all from the Al-Zaidi clan, âtook part in forming an armed gang to kidnap foreigners.âThe defendants confessed to the kidnapping but pleaded not guilty on the charge of forming an armed gang. The tribesmen freed the five Italian captives, three women and two men, on Jan. 6 after holding them hostage for five days in a mountainous village in the Marib province, about 195 km northeast of Sanaa. Under a deal brokered by tribal dignitaries, the abductors released their hostages unharmed and gave themselves up to security forces besieging their hideout. Yemeni officials refused to give details of the deal under which the hostages were freed.