Chinese engineer kidnapped in Yemen
( 2001-09-26 11:14 ) (9 )

A Chinese engineer working in Yemen has been abducted by armed tribesmen, a Yemeni police official said on Tuesday.

"Gunmen from a Yememi tribe kidnapped a Chinese engineer in Sanaa Sunday ... and police have been able to determine his place of detention and identify his abductors," the official said.

"We know the demands of the kidnappers and we are trying to obtain the release of the hostage safe and sound as soon as possible."

The man had been abducted "by members of the Nahm tribe," which is based in Maarib province, 170 kilometres (105 miles) east of Sanaa.

"The chief kidnapper is a civil servant who was recently obliged to take early retirement. He says he is prepared to free his hostage if the privilages he enjoyed before his dismissal are restored," the source said.

The Chinese embassy in Sanaa confirmed the abduction, and identified the kidnapped man as 35-year-old Chinese Ma Weidong. The embassy also revealed Ma had been working for Chinese Road & Bridge Construction Cooperation, which has operated in Yemen for more than 40 years.

More than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped in Yemen and almost all have been returned peacefully through mediation. But three Britons and an Australian died in December 1998 when security forces stormed the hideout of a hardline Islamic militant group. Their leader, Abu Bakr al-Mehdar, was executed.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has contacted its Yemeni counterpart and the Yemen Interior Ministery, urging them to intervene and rescue the abducted Chinese engineer as quickly and as peacefully as possible.