TIMELINE: Kidnappings in Yemen

(Reuters) - Seven Germans, a Briton and a Korean have been kidnapped in the Saada area of north Yemen, a government source said on Sunday.

Scores of holidaymakers and foreigners working in Yemen have been kidnapped over the past decade by tribesmen demanding better schools, roads and services, or the release of prisoners.

Most hostages have been freed unharmed, but in 2000 a Norwegian diplomat was killed in crossfire and in 1998 four Westerners were killed during a botched army attempt to free them from Islamic militants who had seized 16 tourists. Here are details of some recent abductions in Yemen:

August 31, 2007 - A Canadian of Indian origin, a Syrian and their Yemeni driver are abducted in the eastern province of Shabwa, where they worked on a contract for a gas firm. They are freed a day later after the military threatened to storm the area to secure their release.

May 8, 2008 - A group of armed tribesmen abduct two Japanese female tourists and hold them for several hours in the north-central city of Marib. The tribesmen kidnapped the women to press the Yemeni government to free a jailed relative.

August 12, 2008 - Tribesmen pressing for the release of jailed relatives, abduct a French-Algerian engineer and his two Yemeni drivers in the Habban area, 40 km (25 miles) from Ataq, the provincial capital of Shabwa. They are freed hours later.

December 14, 2008 - Three Germans, a woman who officials said worked for the United Nations and her parents, are kidnapped on the outskirts of Sanaa. Tribesmen were pressing for an end to a land dispute with another tribe and for the release of jailed fellow tribesmen. They are released on December 19.

January 17, 2009 - A German engineer and two Yemenis are seized in the Shabwa region in the south of the Arabian Peninsula country. The three men who work for Yemen LNG Ltd are freed on January 20.

March 31, 2009 - A Dutch couple, Jan Hoogendoorn and his wife Heleen Janszen are seized in the southern city of Taiz. They are released on April 13.

June 11, 2009 - Tribesmen in Saada kidnap 24 doctors and nurses with a demand that authorities should free two prisoners. The 24, most of whom were Yemenis but also included Egyptians, Indians and Filipinos are released the next day.

June 14, 2009 - Seven Germans, a Briton and a South Korean are kidnapped from the Saada area of north Yemen. One German is a doctor at a local hospital which the others, including his three children, were visiting. The Briton is an engineer and the South Korean a female school teacher working with an aid agency.