A Dutch family of four and an elderly British couple have been freed by tribesmen in northern Yemen. They said they had been well-treated during almost two weeks in captivity.
The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, at a meeting with the Dutch Prime Minister, Mr Wim Kok, in Bristol, said he was "very pleased". "I think, given the events of recent months, we should consider ourselves very fortunate it has had a good ending," he said, referring to a kidnapping in December which left three Britons and an Australian dead.
Police said the six were freed before dawn yesterday following several days of mediation by the head of Al-Bakhil tribe to which the kidnappers belong, Sheikh Naji Abdel Aziz al-Shaef. They were taken first to the interior ministry and then to the Sanaa home of Sheikh Shaef, where they met the British ambassador.
The six were seized on January 17th and held in the Barat region, 180 km north of Sanaa, by kidnappers demanding the release of two brothers. They were led by a man wanted for murder; the authorities arrested two of his brothers as part of the inquiry and in turn he took hostages.
The Dutch hostages were named as Hans and Berta Koolspra, and their sons Rense (7) and Gerrit (6). The Britons in their 60s, Eddie and Mary Rosser, work with them for the same Dutch aid group, Worldwide Services.
A German woman and her son are still being held hostage in northern Yemen, in a separate case, but Sheikh Shaef said he expected them to be freed soon following similar mediation.