[09/May/2008]

SANA'A, May 09 (Saba)- Well-informed sources said that the two Japanese women tourists Keiko Mishima, 41, of Suginami Ward, Tokyo, and Shizuko Endo, 44, of Fukuoka, left Yemen on Friday morning a day after they were freed from their kidnappers in Marib province, 170 kilometers east of the capital, Sana'a.

The sources said to Saba, that Keiko Mishima and Shizuko Endo enjoy good health after they were kidnapped last Wednesday by gunmen in Marib.

The kidnappers kidnapped the two Japanese women to use them to bargain for the release of a fellow tribesman who had been detained on suspicion of killing a police officer in Marib.

Keiko Mishima and Shizuko Endo were attacked when they were traveling in a car as part of a group with two other women, who were traveling in another car, near the remains of the ancient dam of Marib believed to have been built at the time of the kingdom of Sheba.

Marib, the capital of the ancient kingdom, is known to contain many ancient artifacts and remains, including those of the Queen of Sheba, making the city a major tourist spot.

There have been more than 200 reported cases of foreign tourists being kidnapped in Yemen since 1990.

Around Marib, a series of kidnappings were reported between late 2005 and early 2006. A suicide bombing in July last year led to the deaths of nine people, including several Spanish tourists.

Marib is a popular destination for foreign tourists. Kidnappings of foreign tourists by local tribesmen are often used as bargaining tools to negotiate disputes with the government.

YA


Saba