Senior Interior Ministry officials in Sana’a told Yemen Post that numerous negotiators were send to Mareb province Monday morning to help convince the kidnappers to free the Norwegian UN official.
The Yemeni officials were optimistic that the release of the Norwegian would take place in the next 36 hours.
Yemen Post contacted the kidnappers tribe to comment on the case, but they refuse to comment until guarantees on their fellow tribesman’s release are given to them.
Tribesmen from Mareb kidnapped a Norwegian U.N. official from the streets of Yemen's capital Sunday. They tribes are demanding the release of a jailed tribal leader.
The kidnappers are demanding the release of Ali Nasser Hareekdan, whom a local council official in Mareb province said was the prime suspect behind the killing of four Yemeni troops.