Government and tribal mediators reached an agreement with tribesmen on the release within hours of five German tourists abducted in eastern Yemen, government sources said Friday. Sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) that according to the deal the hostages will be freed soon and authorities would work for the arrest of five men from a rival tribe involved in running a vendetta with the kidnappers' al-Abduallah tribe. The agreement also foresees the transfer of the five al-Abdallahs detained by police in the eastern province of Abyan to Sana'a within 72 hours. "All leaders of the al-Abdallah tribe signed the agreement. And hectic efforts are on now to convince a few young men to accept it," a senior government official said on condition of anonymity. "Tribal chieftains are now in talks with those men to abide by the agreement and let the hostages go," said the official. --SP 23 32 Local Time 20 32 GMT
