Al-Qaeda managed to hire tribesmen to kidnap foreigners and transfer them to South Yemen, the Emaraiti Al-Byan newspaper quoted a Yemeni official on Tuesday.
The newspaper Al-Qaeda pay big amounts of money for tribesmen in return for their acts.
The official said the abduction of a Saudi diplomat, Abdullah Al-Khalidi, a French doctor, and a Swiss Teacher proved that tribal elements operate for Al-Qaeda, pointing out that al-Qaeda pay big amounts of money for the kidnappers.
Al-Qaeda militants received painful attacks as the Yemeni army cleansed them from their main strongholds in Abyan and they restore to attack military and security officers, carry out suicide bombings and kidnap foreigners, a Yemeni analyst said. Meanwhile, sources said that the Italian security officer who was abducted earlier in Sana'a was transferred to the remote governorate of Marib, pointing out that he will be released following negotiations with tribal leaders.
The sources said Alessandro Spadotto, responsible for security at the Italian embassy in Sana'a, was abducted by kidnapper Ali Naser Huraidkan who is accused by the government of committing killing and sabotage acts. They spelt out that the abductor demands a ransom.
Yemen's foreign minister has vowed to do everything possible to track down the kidnappers of an Italian embassy security officer and obtain his safe release, state news agency Saba said.
In a phone call with Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi Di Santagata, Yemeni Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi said the hunt for the kidnappers had begun, Saba reported late on Sunday.