Yemen: Italian will be freed ''within two days''

Sanaa, 1 Aug. (AKI) - The Italian paramilitary policeman kidnapped in the Yemeni capital Sanaa earlier this week will be released following negotiations with tribal leaders, according to local media, citing comments by his abductor.

Alessandro Spadotto, responsible for security at the Italian embassy in Sanaa who was abducted on Sunday, will be "freed in the next two days," kidnapper Ali Naser Huraidkan told Mareb Press on Wednesday. The declaration follows "mediation between tribal heads," he said.

The 29-year-old Carabiniere police officer was seized as he was shopping in civilian clothing in an area of Sanaa close to the Italian embassy, where he heads the security detail.

"I had a meeting yesterday with a commission of mediators and we will meet again today," Huraidkan said. "Yesterday we reached some objectives and I hope that the issue is resolved in a way that he will be freed today or tomorrow, '' he said, adding that the motives for the abduction were personal.

"My requests are personal, between me and the state of Yemen. The kidnapping of the Italian is a mere exercise of pressure on the Yemeni government."

His demands include a ransom and a sum he lost "during my imprisonment."

Kidnappings of foreigners are common in Yemen, both by criminal gangs demanding a ransom and by disgruntled tribesmen seeking concessions from the central government.