Army surrounds Wa'ela tribe lands in search for kidnapped hostages (Front).

SANA'A, July 19 -- News reports said that a number of battalions from Yemeni special forces as well as other military units are being deployed in Wadi Jubarah and in other areas of the Wa'ela tribes adjacent to the Saudi borders.

A tribal source told the Yemen Times that military forces were seen moving in three fronts from Mareb, Al-Jawf and Sa'ada city and that they were heading toward Wadi Jubarah and the nearby areas belonging to Wa'ela tribes. The source, who preferred to remain anonymous, said that the military forces told citizens that they were surrounding the house of the tribal sheikh who is accused of kidnapping the six foreigners.

"We are sure that the sheikh wasn't directly involved in kidnapping the nine foreigners or the murder of three of them," said the source. "The Salafia members that were involved in kidnapping and killing the foreigners persuaded the sheikh to hide the hostages until they can find a way to protect themselves from being held accountable for the murders. The sheikh himself didn't participate in the kidnapping. He doesn't belong to any Salafia groups. In addition, he doesn't object to the existence of Christian missionary groups or any other religion in the governorate."

Nine foreigners, including a German engineer, his wife and three children, two German nurses working for the Sa'ada Hospital, a British engineer who paid a visit to the hospital and a Korean teacher were kidnapped on June 12 while they were on a walk in the suburbs of Sa'ada. Sources reported that the armed group that kidnapped the foreigners is affiliated with Wahabi Salafia extremists who are opposed to the existence of Christian missionaries who have been working at the Al-Jumhuri Hospital in the capital city of Sa'ada for 35 years.

Sheikh Saleh Habra, the spokesman for the Houthis, told the Yemen Times that the mobilization of three divisions of military -- around ten thousand soldiers -- and a number of special forces battalions in the east and north of the governorate are not aiming to search for the foreign hostages. "The army definitely knows where the hostages are and who kidnapped them," he said. "The main target of this mobilization is to impose a complete siege on our supporters and to expand their military sites, which clearly shows that they are preparing for a sixth war.

"Kidnapping the foreigners in Sa'ada and killing three of them is part of a regional conspiracy that not only targets Sa'ada but the entire surrounding region," added Habra.

He accused the government of "arming jihadist Salafia (Wahabia) groups after it recruited them from a number of governorates and sent them to special camps, particularly the Jubarah Camp which contains thousands of these men near the Saudi borders." Habra added that governor of Sa'ada pays direct attention to these camps and visits them repeatedly.

For its part, the Ministry of Interior said that the best elements from its Counter-Terrorism Units have been engaged in the search for the six surviving foreigners who were kidnapped in Sa'ada since this past June. The ministry indicated that security apparatuses are doing their best to track down those who were involved in this hideous crime renounced by all Yemenis regardless of their political affiliations or personal beliefs. The ministry said also that a team of specialist investigators are working around the clock in the field and that important information about the crime has been revealed. The details were given to the various hostages' embassies, according to the ministry.

The ministry renewed its accusation toward Houthi supporters of kidnapping the foreigners and killing three of them, which the Houthis denied altogether. "The kidnapping which took place in areas where Houthis exist complicated the task of investigators to track down those who are believed to be involved in this crime," reported the ministry. "Houthi controlled areas have become a haven for murderers, those who set up road blocks and drug dealers. We are following the progress of investigations and we look positively at the results achieved so far."

Yemen has witnessed many kidnappings during the past few years. Tribesmen often kidnap western tourists to exert pressure on the government to release imprisoned relatives or establish service projects in their areas. Most foreigners kidnapped in Yemen are released without being harmed. However, four western tourists were killed by extremist Islamists while the security forces were attempting to rescue 16 foreigners kidnapped in Abyan in 1998, and a Norwegian man was killed outside of Sana'a in 2000. Last March, tribesmen in the Bani Dhabian area southeast of Sana'a kidnapped a Dutch man and his wife under gunpoint. They were released after two weeks without being harmed....

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