Tribal elders in Yemen’s Baidha province launched on Thursday a new effort to mediate the release of three Westerners who were kidnapped in the capital Sanaa in late December and were said to have been sold to Al-Qaeda, sources told Yemen Post.
“The mediators will negotiate the release of the two Finns and Austrian and will also convince Al-Qaeda militants to leave the Rada city without bloodshed with the forces,” informed sources said.
The government dispatched few days ago forces and military equipment to drive the militants out of the areas they are controlling in Rada, but local tribes, which declared their support to the military campaign, intervened and pledged to convince the militants to withdraw without fighting.
The forces may start an effort to release the foreigners and force the militants out if the mediation fails, the sources said.
The governor of Baidha Al-Dhaheri Al-Shadadi and deputy chief of staff of the Yemeni army Al-Maqdeshi met with the troops and urged them to stay alert and prepare for attack, it said, adding the two officials met with tribal elders and sheikhs to urge them to help release the foreigners.
Separately, the website quoted locals in the Asnaf village outside Sanaa as saying a US drone had targeted a car carrying suspected Al-Qaeda operatives killing five.
The five included three suspected Saudi militants and two others who had not links with Al-Qaeda, the locals said.