Yemeni gunmen kidnap three from Red Cross vehicle

AFP - Gunmen kidnapped two foreigners, including a Frenchwoman, and their Yemeni driver from a Red Cross vehicle in the southern province of Lahij on Tuesday, government and security officials said.

"A French woman of Moroccan origin was kidnapped along with another foreigner and their Yemeni driver in the town of Msaimeer," around 70 kilometres (40 miles) from Huta, the capital of Lahij, a security official said.

The pair were in a Red Cross vehicle when they were seized, a government official said.

The security official, speaking from Msaimeer, described the abductors as "an armed gang wanted by the authorities."

"The kidnappers want to press for the release one of their men, held by Yemeni authorities on criminal charges," the official said.

Yemeni tribes often kidnap foreigners to try to put pressure on the authorities. More than 200 foreigners have been seized during the past 15 years, with most later freed unharmed.