Finland Times

The Finnish couple and an Austrian national, who were abducted by unidentified gunmen from Al-Tahrir Square in Yemen's capital Sanaa on December 21 last year, are yet to be rescued even after two months of the abduction.

Although a Dutch national was released this week after being kidnapped, five other foreigners including two Finnish and an Austrian, a Swiss female teacher remained abducted reportedly by the Al-Qaeda, reported Yemen Times on Thursday.      

Earlier, the Finnish and Austrian envoys met the president and prime minister after the abduction and the Yemen authority assured to rescue the hostage safely, no significant development was found to rescue the Europeans.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, however, claimed that the move to rescue the abducted is on, reported news agency STT.

‘’ We are monitoring the situation and the updated happening here through communication the Yemen side,’’ the Head of the Department of State for Communication and Culture, of Keijo Norvanto told the agency.

The ministry did not provide further development of the situation; although Norvanto pointed out that the important thing is to rescue the abducted safely.

Earlier, a national newspaper of Yemen, The Yemen post reported quoting the tribal sources that the militants who kidnapped the three Europeans are seeking as much as $7 million US dollars as ransom to make the hostage free.

The Yemen government, however, refused to negotiate with the kidnappers or give additional details on where the situation stands today but the senior Interior Ministry officials met with tribal leaders in areas around Sana'a and called on them to assist in the search for the abducted people,  said the newspaper report.

One official told Yemen Post that tribal influence in regions surrounding Sana'a is strong which brings up the need for the government to cooperate with the elders hoping to quicken the pace of the investigation.

"The tribal leaders have their eyes in most of the area surrounding Sana'a and we want to ensure that we use all the tools in our hands to help in the search," an Interior Ministry official told Yemen Post.

The official would not give details of where the investigation stands but confirmed the government still lacks enough evidence to know where exactly the kidnapped are.

The government informed Finnish officials who visited Sana’a that a ransom might be needed and confirmed that tribal leaders around Sana’a are helping in the hunt for the kidnappers.

Tribal leaders in the southern suburbs of Sana’a told Yemen Post that the release of the three foreigners would take anywhere between a week to two months ranging on sides agreeing to the ransom. “At times it does not only involve money, it involves the release of prisoners and this case seems like both money and prisoners will be needed to ensure the release of the foreigners,” a tribal leader told Yemen Post.

He said that if negotiations take longer than a month the deal would be somewhat complicating and would involve more for the release.

Tribesmen usually kidnap foreigners to pressure the authorities to meet demands including ransom, releasing detainees or supplying some services to their areas. 

Several kidnappings have been reported this year amid alarming security disorder deepened by power vacuum as the unrest, which began last year, persists.