Yemen tribe abducts 3 people in a business dispute

SANAA, Sept 1 (Reuters) A Yemeni tribe has abducted two foreign engineers and their Yemeni driver after a dispute between a local contractor and the hostages' employer, the official Saba news agency reported today.

''A military campaign has been prepared to storm the area and secure the release of the hostages if ... a peaceful solution is not agreed with the tribe's leaders,'' the agency quoted a government official in the eastern province of Shabwa as saying.

The three were identified in the Arabic-language report as Atram Nafour Kaftar, a Canadian of Indian origin, Osama Mohammad Aslab, a Syrian, and Ammar Abdul-Karim, a Yemeni.

They were abducted on Friday after a dispute between a contractor from the Shabwa province, apparently a member of the tribe, and Technohouse Engineering and Contracting where they work on a contract for a gas firm.

Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh has vowed to crack down on abductions of foreigners which, along with attacks by al Qaeda, are hindering the poor Arab state's efforts to boost tourism.

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 have been released unharmed.

REUTERS SLD PM1627