Published: 18/11/2009
Bangkok Post
A Japanese engineer kidnapped in Yemen was freed on Tuesday and on his way to the capital, Sanaa, said a tribal leader who negotiated his release.
"He is on route to the capital and will be turned over to the embassy of his country by officials of Sanaa province,'' said the source, who said he was traveling with the freed hostage and who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Japanese, whose name was not made public, was seized on Sunday in the Arhab region, northeast of Sanaa, with the kidnappers demanding he be exchanged with a detained tribesman.
The mediator said his release had been obtained after local tribal chiefs committed themselves to pressing the government to release their comrade.
Earlier on Tuesday, a Yemeni official involved in the negotiations, Sheikh Abdel Jalil Sinan, said the "hostage is very well and is being treated like a guest by his kidnappers, who abducted him to put pressure on the authorities.
"The mediators gave a written statement to the abductors on Monday night telling them they will try to get their demands fulfilled in collaboration with the Sanaa governor who has promised to liberate the detainee in exchange for the Japanese hostage,'' Sheikh Sinan said.
"The Japanese engineer could be liberated in the next 24 hours if we succeed to convince the abductors that their relative will be freed soon when they let go of the hostage.''
But the kidnappers were distrustful because a previous promise by President Ali Abdullah Saleh to release a detainee was not fulfilled, according to sources close to the kidnappers.
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama had said earlier on Tuesday his government was striving to secure the release of the engineer "at any cost.''
"We are making a strong effort to resolve the case through negotiations between the two governments. We want to resolve it at any cost,'' Hatoyama said.
He said the man was not known to have been hurt.
The detained tribesman whose release the kidnappers are seeking is a 22-year-old whom US forces imprisoned for a year in Iraq, said another source.
He was later arrested in Syria before being held in Sanaa, where he was sentenced to two years in prison without charges, the same source said.
Many Yemenis who lived in Iraq returned home after the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled the regime of late dictator Saddam Hussein.
The freed hostage is part of a Japanese aid mission in Yemen and was supervising the construction of a school when he was abducted.
Yemeni tribes habitually kidnap foreigners to try to put pressure on local authorities. More than 200 foreigners have been seized during the past 15 years, with most being freed unharmed.
But five Germans and a Briton who were taken captive in June in the north of the country are still missing with no word on their fate.
They were among nine people seized in the northern Saada region, the stronghold of Shiite rebels led by Abdel Malek al-Huthi. The three others in the group _ two Germans and a South Korean _ were killed.
Two Japanese women were released unharmed in May last year after briefly being taken hostage by Yemeni tribesmen
Bangkok Post
A Japanese engineer kidnapped in Yemen was freed on Tuesday and on his way to the capital, Sanaa, said a tribal leader who negotiated his release.
"He is on route to the capital and will be turned over to the embassy of his country by officials of Sanaa province,'' said the source, who said he was traveling with the freed hostage and who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Japanese, whose name was not made public, was seized on Sunday in the Arhab region, northeast of Sanaa, with the kidnappers demanding he be exchanged with a detained tribesman.
The mediator said his release had been obtained after local tribal chiefs committed themselves to pressing the government to release their comrade.
Earlier on Tuesday, a Yemeni official involved in the negotiations, Sheikh Abdel Jalil Sinan, said the "hostage is very well and is being treated like a guest by his kidnappers, who abducted him to put pressure on the authorities.
"The mediators gave a written statement to the abductors on Monday night telling them they will try to get their demands fulfilled in collaboration with the Sanaa governor who has promised to liberate the detainee in exchange for the Japanese hostage,'' Sheikh Sinan said.
"The Japanese engineer could be liberated in the next 24 hours if we succeed to convince the abductors that their relative will be freed soon when they let go of the hostage.''
But the kidnappers were distrustful because a previous promise by President Ali Abdullah Saleh to release a detainee was not fulfilled, according to sources close to the kidnappers.
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama had said earlier on Tuesday his government was striving to secure the release of the engineer "at any cost.''
"We are making a strong effort to resolve the case through negotiations between the two governments. We want to resolve it at any cost,'' Hatoyama said.
He said the man was not known to have been hurt.
The detained tribesman whose release the kidnappers are seeking is a 22-year-old whom US forces imprisoned for a year in Iraq, said another source.
He was later arrested in Syria before being held in Sanaa, where he was sentenced to two years in prison without charges, the same source said.
Many Yemenis who lived in Iraq returned home after the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled the regime of late dictator Saddam Hussein.
The freed hostage is part of a Japanese aid mission in Yemen and was supervising the construction of a school when he was abducted.
Yemeni tribes habitually kidnap foreigners to try to put pressure on local authorities. More than 200 foreigners have been seized during the past 15 years, with most being freed unharmed.
But five Germans and a Briton who were taken captive in June in the north of the country are still missing with no word on their fate.
They were among nine people seized in the northern Saada region, the stronghold of Shiite rebels led by Abdel Malek al-Huthi. The three others in the group _ two Germans and a South Korean _ were killed.
Two Japanese women were released unharmed in May last year after briefly being taken hostage by Yemeni tribesmen
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