Yemen 'hopes' hostages are alive

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2009

SANAA (AFP) — Yemen's information minister said on Tuesday he hoped that the six foreign hostages seized in the restive northern region of Saada are alive, highlighting uncertainty about their fate.

"About 42 people are being investigated. We hope that they are alive," Hasan al-Lawzi told reporters, after a tribal source and officials said on Monday that the six hostages were handed to a local Shiite rebel leader.

Three women -- two Germans and a South Korean -- who disappeared along with the missing six were found dead last week.

The remaining hostages include five Germans and one Briton. No-one has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping or murders.

"Two main suspects in the kidnapping are being questioned," Lawzi said, adding that they had originally...