Asia-Pacific News
Yemeni tribesmen release Japanese engineer held hostage for a week
Nov 23, 2009, 20:44 GMT
Sana'a, Yemen - Yemeni tribesmen freed a Japanese engineer late Monday after holding him hostage for one week in a mountainous area near the capital Sana'a.
The freed Japanese national, Takeo Mashimo, 63, arrived in Sana'a accompanied by tribal leaders who secured his release through negotiations with the kidnappers.
'I am very happy,' Mashimo told reporters at the office of the Sana'a governor. He thanked the Yemeni government and tribal leaders for the effort they put in to ensure a peaceful end to his ordeal.
Armed tribesmen from the Qawb clan snatched Mashimo while he was visiting a school construction site in Arhab, some 20 kilometres northeast of Sana'a on November 16.
It was not clear whether Yemeni authorities met the kidnappers' demand to release a fellow clansman who has been in police custody in Sana'a since 2005 over links to al-Qaeda.
The jailed clansman, identified as Abdullah Hussien Qawb, was arrested on his return from Iraq, after he participated in what officials called 'insurgency acts.'
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