By Nasser Arrabyee
The kidnappers of the French people in Yemen threatened to kill the three hostages if their demands are not met in five days, said a source close to kidnappers on Sunday.
" I was told by the kidnappers to declare their ultimatum of five days only, if their demands are not met, then they would slaughter the three hostages," said the source who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.
The demands of the kidnappers are either money or release of detainees in the Yemeni government's jails, according the source without giving anymore details.
" Their demands were declared many times everybody knows them," said the source who was asked by the kidnappers to declare the ultimatum only.
The source described the detainees to be released are " brothers of the kidnappers, who were doing Jihad when they were arrested" .
On September 12th, 2011, a Yemeni website carried a video showing three people it said were French aid workers kidnapped in Yemen in May, with one of them saying the French government had done little to win their release.
“We have been held hostage for 102 days and the French and Yemeni governments don’t appear to be concerned about our situation and do nothing to end our captivity, while they are aware of the (captors’) demands,” a man who identified himself as one of the hostages said in French on the brief video.
“Why this abandonment? We address ourselves to the French people, to human rights organisations,” said the man.
The authenticity of the video posted on YouTube by the independent news website Al-Masdar Online could not be verified.
In Paris, a French Foreign Ministry spokesman said: “The assessment of a video is currently being carried out to authenticate and analyse it.”
Samir Jubran, Al-Masdar Online’s editor, told Reuters the video had been emailed by an unknown person who said it was only sent to the website.
Jubran said a French diplomat in Yemen confirmed that the three on the video were the hostages.
The video showed the two women captives wearing Islamic headscarves and seated on the floor on either sides of the male hostage.
The aid workers disappeared in the southeastern province of Hadramout. Yemeni and French authorities have previously said the three were probably kidnapped.
The three work for Triangle Generation Humanitaire, a Lyon-based charity operating in the Arabian Peninsula country which has been in the grip of civil unrest for months.
Kidnappings of Western tourists or workers by tribes seeking ransom or concessions from the government have been frequent in Yemen, one of the poorest Arab countries. Most hostages have been freed unharmed.
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