Finland Times

The fate of the Finnish couple and their Austrian friend who were abducted from the Yemen capital Sanaa on December 21 remained still uncertain as no significant development for their rescue is yet to be found even after three months of the abduction.

Although the abductors released a Video on Youtube with the demand for ransom to release the  Austrian national on February 22, nothing could be known about the situation of the Finnish couple.

The Finnish couple and their Austrian friend were abducted from a camera shop in Yemen capital Sanaa.

In the video footage the Austrian national Dominik Neubauer  said that he would be killed, if the ransom money was not paid to a Yemeni tribe within a week.

He said that he was in good health, although he was seen to speak at a gunpoint. The Austrian authority, however, did not respond to the call made by the kidnappers for ransom.

Authority said that the three were later sold to al Qaeda members and transferred to the small town of al-Manaseh south of the capital.

The Finland Foreign Ministry  that time said that they had got reports of a video showing an Austrian who was abducted along with a Finnish couple.

`` The video is not surprising under the circumstances, although the situation is, of course, very serious,` the  Director of Communication of the ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jouni Mölsä said Mölsä told STT  last month.

 The foreign ministry official also admitted that there was no significant changes in the situation from the perspective of Finland.

The experts, however, said that the single video of only Austrian might indicate that the abducted were under the separate groups in separate areas.

Susanne Dahlgren of the University of Helsinki, said that the internet video raises the question of whether the Finnish hostages held by another group, perhaps. 

Although a Dutch national was released  in mid  February  while some other  foreigners including two Finnish and an Austrian, a Swiss female teacher remained abducted reportedly by the Al-Qaeda, according to the report of Yemen Times, an English language  newspaper  published from Yemenon February 21.    

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.