SANA'A — Three Red Cross workers and two Egyptian technicians who were abducted by armed men in Yemen's southern province of Abyan have all been released, Yemeni security officials said Thursday. The three staffers from the International Committee of the Red Cross had been held since Monday morning, when armed men stopped their ICRC-marked vehicle in the vicinity of Jaar, near the southern port city of Aden, the ICRC said in Geneva. The three — two international staff and a locally hired employee — were on their way back from a field trip. The two Egyptians were kidnapped a week earlier by the same tribe in an area north of Jaar, the Yemeni officials said. The officials said the kidnappers were demanding the release of one of their relatives who is accused in a murder case dating back more than a year ago. Tribal mediation facilitated the release of the abducted, the officials said, without elaborating. Cedric Schweizer, who heads the ICRC delegation in Yemen, said the Red Cross workers were now safely back in Aden. “We are relieved and extremely happy to have our colleagues back with us,” Schweizer said, and thanked “all those who gave us their support unconditionally with the aim of getting our colleagues back safe and sound.” Kidnapping of foreigners by tribesmen is frequent in Yemen, where hostages are used as bargaining chips to secure the release of Yemeni prisoners or to get cash. But in rare cases, the kidnappers sell their captives to Al-Qaeda, which then demands ransoms.— AP
