Six foreign hostages released in Yemen
Yemen, Politics, 2/3/1999

Six foreign hostages were released on Tuesday two weeks after their kidnapping by tribesmen in Yemen.Yemeni police sources said in Sanaa on Tuesday that the Western hostages, four members of a Dutch family and a British couple, were released on Tuesday at dawn and they are at the Yemeni Ministry of the Interior in Sanaa.

Yemeni police sources stated that the release of the Western hostages came as a result of mediation made by the Grand Sheikh of the Yemeni "Bakeil" tribe. The six hostages were kidnapped on January 17 in the northern part of the country.

In a press statement at the house of the Dutch ambassador in Yemen, the Dutch family spoke on the subject of the kidnapping. One of them, Hans Koolstra, announced that the tribesmen who kidnapped them intended to kidnap the US ambassador or one of the officials from the US embassy, but they continued to detain the Dutch and British families after they learned that they were not American.

He confirmed that they were treated well, provided with clothes, food and water and allowed to walk in a wide park near to the house in which they were detained.

Previous Stories:
  Yemen accuses Arab states of being behind kidnapping the foreigners   (2/2/1999)
  Yemen's damage from tourist kidnappings is $250 million and is intentional   (2/1/1999)
  Yemen: Six foreigners arrested in Yemen including Abu Hamseh son   (1/28/1999)
  Dutch - Yemeni meeting to free four hostages   (1/25/1999)

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