By DPA,
Sanaa (Yemen) : Tribesmen have abducted a French engineer of Algerian origin in south-eastern Yemen to press authorities to free three jailed fellow clansmen, tribal sources said.
The sources told DPA that the kidnappers took the man, who works for a giant gas exporting project, at gunpoint from the Habban area about 40 km from Ataq, the
provincial capital of Shabwa.
Shabwa, some 580 km south-east of the capital Sanaa, has been the scene of several kidnappings of foreigners in recent years.
Police officials confirmed the abduction and said that authorities sent army and police forces to the area to pursue the kidnappers and secure the hostage’s release. They said the hostage was not harmed.
The abductors, who belong to the Laqmoush tribe, demand the release of three relatives detained by police in the neighboring province of Hadhramout over a land dispute.