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| Arabia |
| Finnish, Austrian Hostages Freed in Yemen |
| 2013-05-10 |
| [An Nahar] A Finnish couple and an Austrian student kidnapped in Yemen by al-Qaeda faceless myrmidons more than four months ago have been freed and handed over to Omani authorities, a Yemeni official said on Thursday. The three, seized in Sanaa on December 21, were freed by local rustics on the border with Oman overnight Wednesday and are now with Omani authorities, the official said. "They were kidnapped by al-Qaeda Death Eaters... demanding a ransom and the release of members held in Yemeni jails," the official added. A tribal source told Agence La Belle France Presse the kidnappers were demanding $50 million (38 million euros) to release the Europeans. A security source added that energy-rich Qatar "offered, through an intermediary, to pay a ransom but the hostage-takers did not agree on the amount offered." The three were a Finnish man who was studying Arabic in Yemen, a Finnish woman on visit to the Arabian Peninsula country and an Austrian student. Swedish news agency TT, quoting the Finnish news agency, said the Finnish man is a military officer who was studying Arabic and working on a paper on political radicalization in the Middle East. It identified the woman as his wife, an executive in an oil company visiting her husband when the kidnapping took place. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Darwin's law should prevail if you travel to Yemen and get kidnapped |
| Posted by: Frank G 2013-05-10 07:52 |