Italian diplomat kidnapped by tribesmen in Yemen

SANAA - Yemen's interior ministry said on Tuesday that an Italian diplomat was kidnapped by tribesmen two days ago and has been moved to a remote area in the northeastern province of Marib.

The abductors led by "fugitive Ali Nasser Hiraygdan from Marib are demanding compensation for disputed lands, as well as the removal of their names from a blacklist of murder cases and banditry," the ministry said in a statement posted on its website.

The ministry said it will exert all rescue efforts to secure his release as soon as possible.

The Italian security officer was snatched near the embassy in the capital Sanaa on Sunday. He is held hostage by the Abida tribe in al-Wady district in Marib, some 170 km northeast of Sanaa, according to the statement.

Yemen has long been plagued by the kidnapping of foreigners by powerful tribesmen and sometimes terrorists who seek ransoms or the release of their jailed fellows. Most of the abducted foreigners were freed unharmed.

A French aid worker who was kidnapped by gunmen in Yemen's western port city of Hodayda was released early this month after three-month rescue efforts.

However, the kidnappers in the impoverished Arab country still hold a Swiss woman and a Saudi diplomat, demanding the release of al-Qaida militants and a large number of ransom.

The incident highlighted fragile security situation in Yemen, despite reforms launched by Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to unify the army and security forces to end the militancy in the country.