..but continues to negotiate with kidnappers. From Reuters:
ADEN, Yemen - Yemen's president pledged on Sunday to eradicate kidnappings in his country, a day after five German hostages were freed by tribesmen who held them captive for three days.Armed tribal groups in Yemen, where central government control is often weak, seize tourists frequently, but they are usually freed unharmed after negotiations.
Tribesmen kidnapped former German government minister and hostage negotiator Juergen Chrobog, his wife and three children on Wednesday to press the government to release fellow tribesmen jailed for murder and other crimes...
Chrobog and his family were handed over to Yemeni officials on Saturday and flew from the eastern Shabwa province to Aden after Yemen's defence minister led talks to secure their release. The tribesmen are being detained and questioned...
Chrobog, 65, was Germany's ambassador to the United States from 1995 to 2001. In 2003, as a deputy foreign minister, he was the top diplomat dealing with Europeans abducted in the Sahara desert and was able to secure the release of 14 hostages, including nine Germans...
The level of intelligence --or of stupidity-- that led Herr Chrobog to take a vacation with his children in Yemen may demonstrate the level of intelligence and wisdom of EU govt ministers. We have scores of thousands of Jews here in Israel who left Yemen [or their parents or grandparents left there}. Did Chrobog think that if they didn't like Jews, they might graciously welcome him? Can the EU be taken seriously except as a threat to peace and to its own peoples??
I can understand if a couple of adults want to take the calculated risk of being "tourists" in a place like Yemen, but why bring the kids?
I bet all those kids' friends went somewhere "cool" on their Christmas vacation, while they got kidnapped in Yemen. Ach! How embarrassing!
Vacationing in Yemen???
Nice for the family eh,what a nimcompoop.
Ransom paid????
Thanks for funding the terorist agenda!!!!!!
We know that kids are always safe in the hands of Moslem activists. Except maybe for the pedophile Jihad-rape thing. Other than that, the kid'll be fine.
On a lighter note
In one Friends episode, Chandler booked a ticket to Yemen in order to escape Janice. How did he ever get back?
Political kidnapping is a deeply-ingrained part of Yemeni culture. The kidnap victims are treated with hospitality; they are often not related in any way to the issue at hand. The tribes kidnap as a way of forcing negotiation with the central authorities.