Yemen - Media Safety
Al-Fugara tribesmen release abducted Yemeni journalist
Source : Yemen Observer 04.08.2009
Original Headline: Al-Fugara tribesmen release abducted Yemeni journalist
By Mohammed al-Kibsi & Mohammed al-Qiri
The kidnappers of the Editor in Chief of the 17th of July Newspaper, Saleh al-Jalal, released him on Sunday.
Al-Jalal was released three months after tribesmen from the al-Fugara tribe of al-Hadda district kidnapped him from Sana’a.
The Ministry of the Interior that received al-Jalal from the kidnappers said he was released as a result of pressures placed on the abductors within the extensive campaign the ministry has been undertaking to arrest people involved in the kidnappings of foreigners and locals alike.
However, tribal sources said that al-Jalal was released as a result of tribal mediation. According to these sources, the mediators pledged that al-Jalal would pay YER 17 million to his abductors who claimed that their hostage is indebted to one of the tribesmen.
“The head of the mediators, Sheikh al-Dumani Naser al-Salimi, gave his jambiyya (Yemeni dagger) and four vehicles to the abductors as a guarantee until al-Jalal can pay back his debt,” said the tribal source.
The Yemeni Journalist Syndicate (YJS) expressed satisfaction at the release of al-Jalal and praised the efforts of the Minister of the Interior, Al-Masri, for his efforts in working towards the release.
The Yemen Observer tried many times to phone al-Jalal to congratulate him and ask him about the real reasons behind his abduction and why he was released, but his phone was always out of coverage or switched off.
The NewsYemen website cited al-Jalal as saying his problem with the abductors is ongoing because he has failed to pay the rest of the demanded sum after he sold all of his belongings. The website added that al-Jalal preferred to not give any details about the causes of his abduction.
Tribesmen from al-Fugara kidnapped al-Jalal on May 4, 2009, the same time when other Yemeni newspapers were suspended for allegations of inciting public unrest. However, the 17th of July Newspaper is independent and not affiliated with any opposition political party, and opposition media did not cover the story of the kidnapping its editor either.
In a related context, the kidnappers of Yemeni businessman Abdul-Malik al-Khamiri said he was kidnapped because he failed to pay YER 250 million that a tribal arbitrary committee ordered him to pay to the Bani Dhabyan tribe. Sheikh Ahmad Ali Mujaidie’e, one of the kidnappers, said that the al-Khamiri family has to implement the tribal verdict according to the pledge written by Nabil al-Khamiri in which he gave the tribe the right to issue a verdict over the conflict between the two sides.
Nabil al-Khamiri wrote the pledge, which was guaranteed by Sheikh Sultan al-Barakani and Sheik Abdullah al-Muradi. Shiekh Mujaidie’e presented two documents to the Yemen Observer and in the first, Nabil al-Khamiri pledged to fulfill the tribe’s verdict. This document, dated August 16, 2008, was signed by Nabil al-Khamiri and by the two sheikhs. The second document was a reconciliation verdict between the Bani Dhabyan tribesmen and the al-Khamiri family dated March 31, 2002 and was signed by a number of arbitrating sheikhs.
Al-Khamiri pledged to accept the tribal verdict, and after its issuance and he brought five vehicles as a guarantee until he paid the YER 250 million demanded.
Sheikh Mujaidie’e claimed that al-Khamiri told them that he would pay the sum, though after they all met with the President of the Republic, a meeting which he pledged to arrange. “We came to Sana’a and waited for three months but nothing was fulfilled,” said Sheikh Mujaidie’e. The tribe demanded YER 250 million from al-Khamiri for killing one of their tribesmen and wounding another in a conflict between the two sides in Sana’a in 2000, after al-Khamiri had wrote them a check that bounced at a value of YER 13 million.
In Khawlan District, close to Sana’a, an armed group from the tribe of Bani Dhabyan kidnapped 30-year-old Abdul-Malik al-Khamiri, Vice Chairman of the Yemeni Company for Hotels and Investment, on July 19, 2009. The kidnapped man is the brother of well-known businessman Tawfiq al-Khamiri.
In other news, the Ministry of the Interior announced last week that a total of 30 men accused of kidnapping foreign and Yemeni citizens were arrested, most of whom have already been put on trial.
The ministry said in a statement posted on its website that 56 other men accused of kidnapping are still at large. “The hunt will continue until they are arrested and brought to justice”, said the statement. It added that names and pictures of the 56 accused will be circulated across the country to police units.
Hundreds of westerners and Yemenis have been kidnapped over the past 15 years in about 220 separate kidnapping incidents.
Kidnappers often use the hostages to pressure the government for development projects, to leverage the release of jailed relatives, seek debt or properties from rivals or businessmen, or for ransom.
All hostages have been released safe and sound except for those in two kidnappings. The first took place in the south of Yemen in 1999, when three western tourists, kidnapped by terrorist group ‘Abyan Aden Army’, were killed in a rescue operation gone wrong carried out by the government. The kidnappers were arrested, tried, and jailed, and the leader of the group, al-Mihdhar, was tried and executed.
The second occurred in Sa’adah, north Yemen, on June 12, 2009, when two German nurses and a South Korean teacher were found dead two days after they had been kidnapped along with six other people. The fate of the remaining six hostages, a British man and a German family of five, is still unknown.
