A German man who was kidnapped by tribesmen in Yemen on May 26 was freed "safe and sound" on Wednesday, a tribal source in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, said.
"The German Carl Christian Hoernecke was freed safe and sound at around 5:00 pm (1400 GMT) by members of the Jahm tribe that had kidnapped him and is now in the company of the governor of the city of Ma'reb," the source told AFP.
Hoernecke, a 22-year-old student, was kidnapped by armed men from the center of Sanaa and driven to the region of Sawareh, east of the capital, where he was held.
He is to spend the night in Ma'reb before returning to Sanaa on Thursday morning, said the source, who is close to the mediators who obtained Hoernecke's release.
"The kidnappers released the hostage without any conditions...after four days of difficult negotiations led by Sheikh Mohamma Al Ghader, chief of the Khawlan tribe," the source said.
The kidnappers had been demanding the release of four fellow tribesmen, who had been jailed for abducting a senior judicial official, previous reports said.
Army and police units had been dispatched to the Sawareh region to pressure for the release of Hoernecke – Albawaba.com
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