SANAA, 3 January 2006 — Tribesmen holding five Italian tourists hostage in northeastern Yemen yesterday threatened to kill them if troops encircling the area move to rescue them, a local official said.

The five Italians, three women and two men, were snatched from Marib, some 195 km northeast of the capital Sanaa on Sunday and taken to the Serwah district, about 30 km away.

The kidnappers, who belong to the Al-Zaidi tribe, have demanded the release of eight clan members being held in Sana’a in connection with the killing of a police officer in the city in 2003.

One of the kidnappers, a tribal identifying himself as Mubarak Mabkhout Al-Zaidi, told Arab News by mobile phone: “I swear that if a single shot is fired we will kill them. We are neither saboteurs nor terrorists. All what we want is to negotiate the release of our men detained by authorities.”

Al-Zaidi also said they wanted the government to pay a compensation for a home destroyed by army troops three years ago.

He said the hostages, in their 40s or 50s were “in good condition and being held in separate places”. He and his associates had reassured the hostages that they would be safe as long as their government work for a peaceful solution of the crisis.

Armed forces besieged the tribal area yesterday as negotiations continued to seek the Italians’ peaceful release.

“Army and security forces are now besieging completely the captors of the Italian tourists in order to force them to free the hostages,” Prime Minister Abdul Qader Bajammal told reporters.

Bajammal was speaking outside his office where hundreds of artists were holding a demonstration to protest kidnapping operations and calling on the government to be strong.

“We will confront terrorism, kidnappings and the spread of arms with seriousness and without hesitation,” Bajammal vowed.

A municipal official in Marib, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said soldiers had been deployed to the rugged Serwah to completely seal off the area.

Government officials contacted by Arab News said the troop deployment was aimed only at bringing pressure to bear on the abductors. “Force will not be used,” said a senior official. “We are putting every effort into guaranteeing the safety of the hostages.”

Meanwhile, a government negotiation team headed by the army deputy chief of staff Brig. Gen. Ali Muhammad Salah later arrived in the provincial city to negotiate with the kidnappers.

The Italian news agency Ansa reported yesterday that a doctor, two teachers and a driving school head were among the five Italians. The doctor, Piergiorgio Gamba, a hospital pediatrician, and teachers Maura Tonetto and Camilla Ramigni, hail from Padua in northeast Italy, Ansa said. The other two, from Milan, were named as driving school head Enzo Botillo, 51, and Patrizia Rossi, whose employment was not specified.

They were among a group of 16 traveling with tour operator Avventure nel Mondo (World Adventure), which told Ansa they were heading for an archaeological site when one of their vehicles in the convoy was stopped by the armed men.

Yemeni government sources said yesterday the three women hostages on Sunday refused to be released and instead insisted on returning to their male companions who were still being held captive.

The abduction came one day after five German hostages were freed from captivity in the eastern Shabwa province.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Sunday dismissed the provincial governors of Marib and Shabwa after a spate of recent kidnappings. On Saturday, after the release of the German hostages, Saleh vowed his government would wage a tough campaign against the practice of kidnapping foreigners.

Nearly all of the kidnappings in Yemen have been carried out by tribesmen seeking to put pressure on the central government and the hostages have generally been released unharmed. However, three Britons and an Australian seized by Islamist militants were killed when security forces stormed their hideout in December 1998.

— With input from agencies