Finland Times

Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja on Sunday visited Yemen and held meetings with government high-ups, including the president, on developments in the Finnish couple abduction case.

The shop from where the Finnish couple was abducted. Photo AFP-Lehtikuva

The couple was abducted from Sana’a on December 21 last.

After discussions with Yemen President Abdrabuh Hadi Mansur and the foreign and interior affairs ministers, Tuomioja told STT over telephone that an incident like abduction needed patient investigation.

He also expected that the Yemen authorities would take necessary measures with sincerity to resolve the crisis.

Tuomioja said he also handed over a memorandum on behalf of President Sauli Niinistö to the Yemen president demanding effective measures in this connection.

He said the Yemen government was clear about the importance given by the Finnish government on resolving the crisis.

Yemen President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi. Photo AFP-Lehtikuva

The foreign minister, from the details about the situation he had gathered from his talks with his Yemen counterpart and interior minister, understood that no significant headway had been made so far in the case.

Meanwhile, STT quoting an AFP report said the Yemen president announced to apply force, if necessary, to rescue the Finnish couple and their Austrian friend.

 

The president, however, said they should go ahead carefully, considering the safety of the abducted, said the AFP report, quoting the website of the Yemen Defence Ministry.

The fate of the Finnish couple and their Austrian friend, who were abducted from Sana’a on December 21, remains uncertain even after 100 days of the abduction.

Although the abductors on February 22 released a video on Youtube demanding a ransom for the release of the Austrian national, nothing could be known about the whereabouts of the Finnish couple.

The Finnish couple and their Austrian friend were abducted from a camera shop in Sana’a.

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

He said he was in good health, although he was seen to speak at gunpoint. The Austrian authorities, however, did not respond to the kidnappers’ call for ransom.

 

Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja. Photo Lehtikuva

The authorities said the three abducted people were later sold to al-Qaeda members and transferred to the small town of al-Manaseh south of the capital.

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

Earlier, a national newspaper of Yemen, The Yemen Post, reported quoting tribal sources that the militants who kidnapped the three Europeans were seeking as much as US$7 million 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 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, the report said.

Tribal influence in regions surrounding Sana'a is strong, which creates the need for the government to cooperate with the elders hoping to quicken the pace of the investigation, one of the officials told the Yemen Post.

 

Video clip released on Youtube where the abducted Austrian described his situation on gunpoint. Photo Lehtikuva

The government informed Finnish officials who visited Sana’a that a ransom might be needed and confirmed that tribal leaders around Sana’a were helping in the hunt for the kidnappers, said the Yemen newspaper report.

Tribal leaders in the southern suburbs of Sana’a told the 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 the Yemen Post.

He said if negotiations took longer than a month, the deal would be somewhat complicating and 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.