Six months after Judith Spiegel and her husband, Boudewijn Berendsen were kidnapped in their home by armed militants, officials in Yemen have no knowledge of their whereabouts or health status.
Back in June, police sources confirmed the disappearance of the Duch couple from their residence in Hadda (a southern district of the capital home to a majority of diplomats and foreign workers), saying they had both been kidnapped by al-Qaeda operatives, the latest victims of the terror group’s abduction program.
Keen to prove its reach and instil fear, al-Qaeda has been running kidnapping bids for well over a year, favouring foreign workers as they represent a valuable trading commodity for the group. Security experts have long explained that Islamists have used kidnapping to bankroll their operations in the Peninsula.
Financing for the al-Qaeda network, according to U.S. officials, comes from sources such as bank robberies, kidnappings, drug proceeds, and phony charities. A December 2009 classified memo from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton indicated donors in Saudi Arabia were "the most significant source" of funding to Sunni terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda.
While kidnapping has always been an issue in Yemen, with tribes often using foreign nationals as a bargain chip in their dealings with the central government, the past 24 months have proven ever more dangerous for foreigners, especially Europeans as they are considered high value target.
Although sources close to the matter have told the press that militants contacted the Dutch Embassy within two days of the kidnappings to put forward their terms (a rumoured $10 million), it is believed that Yemen officials have blocked negotiations, eager not to have foreign officials play into the terror group’s hands by disbursing yet more money to their network.
Safe from a video uploaded by al-Qaeda last July showcasing Judith and her husband pleading for their lives, the couple has not been heard of.
Despite the mobilization in Yemen and abroad of several rights groups such as Yemen Journalist syndicate and the International Federation of Journalists, which denounce state apathy and a lack of security measures to ensure the protection of journalists, both the Yemeni government and the Dutch authorities have remained tight-lipped about the whole affair.
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