Yemeni holding French hostages warns against force

ADEN, Sep 17 (Reuters) One of the Yemeni tribesmen holding four French tourists hostage warned today that their lives would be in danger if the government tried to free them.

''We warn the authorities in Yemen not to use force because in this situation the tourists would be in jeopardy,'' the man, who did not want to be named, told Reuters by telephone.

Tribesmen snatched the tourists last Sunday and threatened to kill them unless five jailed relatives were freed. There was no word on any deadline.

Yemen deployed troops on Monday to try to free the tourists captured in the east of the country.

The kidnapping ''is not an act of terrorism'', said the man who reiterated the earlier demand. It was not immediately clear why the relatives were in prison.

Tribal sources close to the efforts to release the hostages provided Reuters with the man's mobile telephone number.

Yesterday, Yemen said French President Jacques Chirac had asked Sanaa to avoid force.

Scores of holidaymakers and foreigners working in Yemen have been kidnapped over the past decade by tribesmen demanding better schools, roads and services, or the release of prisoners.

Most hostages have been released unharmed.

''We demand .... the release of five prisoners from our kin who are held by the authorities in the province of Abyan,'' said the man who said he was speaking from the province of Shabwa.

''Until then they will be our guests.'' He did not allow any of the hostages to speak on the phone.

The latest kidnappings coincide with campaigning for the September 20 presidential and municipal elections.

Yemeni security sources said members of the same tribe had taken hostage, and released, five German tourists last year.

Impoverished Yemen hopes to boost its tourism, but attacks by al Qaeda-linked militants and kidnappings by disgruntled tribesmen have scared off many travellers.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh has vowed to crack down on such abductions. Yemen has executed at least two convicted kidnappers so far this year to serve as a deterrent.

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