Tribesman jailed for German's kidnap

Tribes have seized 200 foreigners in the last 10 years

A Yemeni accused of kidnapping a German businessman a month ago has been sentenced to 25 years in prison by a court in the capital, Sanaa.

Three other men, who are still at large, received 20 years each, while a fourth was acquitted.

The prosecutor had demanded the death penalty for all of them.

The German, Karl Lehnert, a Mercedes Benz employee, was snatched in Sanaa on 29 November and held for nearly two weeks by armed tribesmen before being freed.

Tribal sources said five people died and several others were wounded when Yemeni special forces backed by helicopters stormed the kidnappers' hide-out.

'Unhappy'

Ahmed Nasser al-Zaydi, the man given 25 years, pleaded guilty to the charges earlier this month.

Zaydi, unemployed and in his 30s, said he was unhappy with his living conditions.

More than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped in Yemen in the past 10 years, mostly by tribesmen who wanted to use their captives as bargaining chips with the government.

Most of these kidnappings were resolved peacefully through mediation, although in 1998 three British hostages and an Australian were killed when the army stormed the hide-out of their militant Islamic captors.