nds76
01-01-2006, 12:12am
(CNN) -- Five German citizens taken hostage in Yemen earlier this week have been freed, the German foreign minister has said.
Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said at a press briefing on Saturday that Juergen Chrobog, his wife Magda and their three adult sons "are again in safety."
He spoke to Chrobog who said "he and his family are relieved."
The family thanked German and Yemeni officials and negotiators involved in securing their release.
The five were taken hostage in Shabwa province while on a guided tour, officials said.
German authorities initially reported the Chrobogs missing on Wednesday in the south Arabian country.
Chrobog, 65, a former German ambassador to the United States, helped to negotiate the release of 14 Germans kidnapped in the Algerian Sahara in 2003.
The Chrobog family kidnapping came less than a week after the release of German archaeologist Susanne Osthoff, who had been taken hostage in Iraq.
Osthoff also sparked criticism at home, including from the government, for saying she intended to return to Iraq.
On the travel risks in Yemen, "No one should know better than Chrobog, and expert in kidnapping crises," said the newspaper Koelnische Rundschau in an editorial. Its headline "The Liberator as Hostage."
The German government has maintained a travel advisory in Yemen, urging Germans to exercise caution there and to travel only with a guide.
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/12/31/germans.yemen/index.html
Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said at a press briefing on Saturday that Juergen Chrobog, his wife Magda and their three adult sons "are again in safety."
He spoke to Chrobog who said "he and his family are relieved."
The family thanked German and Yemeni officials and negotiators involved in securing their release.
The five were taken hostage in Shabwa province while on a guided tour, officials said.
German authorities initially reported the Chrobogs missing on Wednesday in the south Arabian country.
Chrobog, 65, a former German ambassador to the United States, helped to negotiate the release of 14 Germans kidnapped in the Algerian Sahara in 2003.
The Chrobog family kidnapping came less than a week after the release of German archaeologist Susanne Osthoff, who had been taken hostage in Iraq.
Osthoff also sparked criticism at home, including from the government, for saying she intended to return to Iraq.
On the travel risks in Yemen, "No one should know better than Chrobog, and expert in kidnapping crises," said the newspaper Koelnische Rundschau in an editorial. Its headline "The Liberator as Hostage."
The German government has maintained a travel advisory in Yemen, urging Germans to exercise caution there and to travel only with a guide.
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/12/31/germans.yemen/index.html