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Sana'a: An Al Qaida Yemeni wing called on Wednesday for kidnappings of tourists in the Arab country to press for the release of jailed fighters.
"It is a duty that detainees be freed through any rough way, such as kidnapping tourists, who are numerous, or through various other ways," an article in the e-magazine of Al Qaida in the south of the Arabian Peninsula read.
The group said it was pained some fighters "had turned themselves in voluntarily to the ruling regime to improve their situation", in an apparent reference to a Yemeni-American thought to be a major figure in the bombing of US warship Cole in 2000, who turned himself in to Yemeni authorities in 2007.
Dozens of Al Qaida insurgents are serving jail terms in Yemen.
Scores of holidaymakers and foreigners working in Yemen have been kidnapped over the past decade by tribesmen. Most have been freed unharmed.
President criticised
Yemeni tribal leaders criticised President Ali Abdullah Saleh for not ending the Al Houthi armed rebellion, either through peaceful means or by force, sources said.
In a meeting with President Saleh in Sana'a this week, the tribesmen from the volatile Sa'ada and neighbouring provinces, said it was agreed to end the armed rebellion by hook or crook.
"The tribal shaikhs criticised President Saleh and expressed anger and surprise because the government has been unable to end the rebellion," said sources who attended that meeting.
About 7,000 tribesmen from two influential tribes will join government troops in battles against the rebels, as agreed at the meeting that was held in the presidential palace in Sana'a.
The sources added that President Saleh had agreed to allow 20,000 men from Sa'ada to be recruited as a local soldiers to prevent any future rebellion. "The task of the 20,000 men from Sa'ada will be the prevention of any regrouping of Al Houthi supporters," the sources said.
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