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| Arabia |
| Yemen: Army surrounds kidnappers' hideout in south |
| 2009-01-22 |
| (AKI) - The Yemeni army on Tuesday surrounded a militant hideout in the country's southeast, where a German contractor was reportedly being held hostage with two Yemenis. The three men were abducted on Sunday. The German captive is a pipeline engineer for Amecspie Hawk, a sub-contractor of the Yemen Natural Gas Company. Officials say security forces have surrounded a remote mountain village called Khubar Lagmoush in the south-eastern province of Shabwa where the hostages are believed to be held. Local governor Ali Hasan al-Ahmadi said the standoff may end by the end of the day. The army also said that it did not intend to carry out an armed raid, so as not to endanger the life of the hostages and hoped to obtain their release without violence. The abductors are said to be demanding the release of a tribesman accused of murder in 1989. Kidnapping is a common strategy among tribes in Yemen, who use hostages as levers to extract money or make demands from the government. Most have been released unharmed. |
| Posted by:Fred |