Yemen cracks down to free two Colombian hostages

ABYAN, Sep. 20 (Saba)- Security sources said on Saturday that the
security committee of Abyan province held a meeting to conduct
security crackdowns for the release of two Colombian oil experts who
were kidnapped on Friday by tribal gunmen.

The sources added that the two Colombian oil experts, working with
the Yemeni Liquefied Natural Gas Company, were kidnapped on Friday
while they were on their way to the pipelines, in Balhaf, Shabwa
province.

Well-informed sources said the two Colombian oil experts, along with
two Yemenis, were kidnapped in the Shabwa province, east of Yemen.
The hostages were identified as Hector Marin, Rafael Abala, Basheer
Al Sulwi, the driver, and Abdul-Aziz Abdul-Gani.

Primary investigations revealed the kidnappers were from the Ba
Kazem tribe in Shabwa province. The kidnappers drove off in the car
of the kidnapped experts, leaving their car at the spot where the
kidnapping occurred.

According to a local statistics, Yemen has witnessed about 134
kidnappings, which included about 325 Europeans and 25 Americans,
between 1990 and 2005.

Around 80 per cent of these abductions took place in the provinces
of Sana'a, Amran, Mareb, Sa'ada and Shabwa.