Yemeni police on Wednesday arrested two men convicted in absentia of complicity in the abduction of a German businessman last year, tribal sources said.
Hassan Ahmad al-Zaidi and Mohammad Nasser al-Zaidi, both sentenced last month to 20 years in prison, were arrested in Marib province, some 200 kilometers east of the capital Sanaa, and taken to the Sanaa's central prison, the sources added, according to AFP.
A third man, Ahmad Nasser al-Zaidi, was sentenced to death for his leading role in the abduction of Karl Lehnardt after appealing a 25-year sentence.
The appeals court also upheld 20-year terms for three of his accomplices, including the pair captured Wednesday. A fifth suspect was acquitted.
Wednesday's arrests leave only one of the four convicts, Salah Naji Toayman, still at large, AFP reported.
According to Yemeni law, a death sentence must be ratified by the head of state and confirmed by the high court.
The four were convicted of kidnapping the 47-year-old German, who heads the technical department for the Yemeni franchise of Mercedes, resisting authorities and possessing unlicensed weapons.
Lehnardt was snatched outside his house in Sanaa last November. Yemeni soldiers and police freed him early December. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
