December 15, 2008
Three Germans Kidnapped in Yemen
Yemen's law is based on Sharia and tribal norms. The government often kidnaps people and holds them hostage as a way to pressure family members. In other cases, state hostage taking is simply retribution by a powerful person. Considering the judicial system is no remedy, tribesmen regularly resort to kidnapping foreigners in order to get their relatives released. Why foreigners? Because no one cares when they kidnap Yemenis. Depending on the tribal identity of the kidnappers, the state sanction can range from financial rewards to prison time.The hostages are usually released without harm. The only exception was when jihaddists kidnapped foreigners in 1998. That ended with several fatalities. The tribesmen on the other hand have never been known to hurt the hostages and usually are very hospitable.
AFP: Three members of a German family, among them a UN expert, have been kidnapped in Yemen and are being held in a mountainous area of the impoverished Arab country, a security official said on Monday.The three were seized on Sunday in Bayda northeast of Sanaa and taken to Bani Dhabian, an area that lies 60 kilometres (40 miles) east of the capital but is difficult to access, the official said on condition of anonymity.
A tribal source told AFP that the kidnappers were tribesmen but that he did not know their demands.
