Tribesmen kidnap 4 foreigners in Yemen
* Tribesmen kidnap four foreigners in Sanaa
* Hostages believed to be Italians
(Adds details, background)
SANAA, March 31 (Reuters) - Armed tribesmen kidnapped four foreign tourists, believed to be Italians, in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Tuesday and took them to a tribal area outside the city, security and tribal sources said on Tuesday.
The attack is likely to further damage Yemen's nascent tourism sector and add to the security concerns of foreign firms developing its oil and gas sector.
The nationality of the four was not immediately confirmed, but some sources said they were believed to be Italians.
Italy's foreign ministry said it was aware of reports of the kidnapping but had no information about the nationalities of the hostages.
Disgruntled tribes often kidnap Western tourists in Yemen, one of the world's poorest countries, to pressure the government to provide better services and improve living conditions.
Most foreigners abducted in Yemen are released unharmed, but in 2000 a Norwegian was killed in crossfire and in 1998 four Westerners were killed during a botched attempt to free them from Islamist militants who had seized 16 tourists.
The last Westerner to be kidnapped in Yemen was a German engineer who was snatched in January and freed days later.
But the government of the Arabian Peninsula country has also been battling Islamist militants for years.
Earlier this month, a suicide bomber killed four South Korean tourists in Yemen, the ancestral home of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Yemen blamed that attack on al Qaeda. (Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari, Writing by Lin Noueihed, Editing by Jonathan Wright)
* Hostages believed to be Italians
(Adds details, background)
SANAA, March 31 (Reuters) - Armed tribesmen kidnapped four foreign tourists, believed to be Italians, in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Tuesday and took them to a tribal area outside the city, security and tribal sources said on Tuesday.
The attack is likely to further damage Yemen's nascent tourism sector and add to the security concerns of foreign firms developing its oil and gas sector.
The nationality of the four was not immediately confirmed, but some sources said they were believed to be Italians.
Italy's foreign ministry said it was aware of reports of the kidnapping but had no information about the nationalities of the hostages.
Disgruntled tribes often kidnap Western tourists in Yemen, one of the world's poorest countries, to pressure the government to provide better services and improve living conditions.
Most foreigners abducted in Yemen are released unharmed, but in 2000 a Norwegian was killed in crossfire and in 1998 four Westerners were killed during a botched attempt to free them from Islamist militants who had seized 16 tourists.
The last Westerner to be kidnapped in Yemen was a German engineer who was snatched in January and freed days later.
But the government of the Arabian Peninsula country has also been battling Islamist militants for years.
Earlier this month, a suicide bomber killed four South Korean tourists in Yemen, the ancestral home of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Yemen blamed that attack on al Qaeda. (Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari, Writing by Lin Noueihed, Editing by Jonathan Wright)
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