World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies

Barcelona, July 19th - 24th 2010

· NOT_DEFINED institution: Otto-Friedrich University Bamberg & GTZ- German Technical Cooperation

· NOT_DEFINED organizer: Daniela Siebeck

· NOT_DEFINED language: English

· NOT_DEFINED description: Since the early 90s more than 320 foreigners have been kidnapped in 99 separate incidents in Yemen. The majority of kidnap victims were Germans, French and Italian. In most cases kidnappers came from tribal backgrounds and were described by their victims as -under the circumstances-'hospitable'. This has shaped the image of the country over years and to some extent blurred the dangers inherent in any kidnapping situation. The means of kidnapping foreigners, however, also has been applied by international terrorist or terrorist affiliated groups which reduced the safety of hostages to a minimum: In the past 18 years 8 foreigners were killed during 'take-over' or 'release' situations, two were injured. The majority (5) of these casualties were caused in an incident during 1998 when members of the Aden-Abyan-Army kidnapped a group of 16 western tourists and used them as human shields during clashes with the Yemeni troops. In 2008 three kidnapped women were killed, a fact that enraged Yemeni public and provoked many demonstrations against the crime. In spite of international cooperation in the investigation the circumstances of this recent case as well as the fate of the remaining hostages until today are unclear. In two 'traditional' kidnapping cases hostages were injured or killed by mistake during shootouts between military and kidnappers.Facing the risks of a kidnapping as well as the increasing influence of terrorist organizations, that is marked by appeals to abduct foreigners and attacks on foreign travelers or institutions the sometimes romanticized character of 'Yemeni kidnappings' may be undergoing changes. This study's objective hence is to understand causes, circumstances and changes with regard to kidnapping foreigners' cases. It relies on a data analysis from news reports and interviews and covers the background of kidnappers, their motivation and decision making process, the selection of potential hostages, preferred geographical 'collection points', factors influencing the choice of hostages, duration of captivity, risks and chances of take-over strategies, detention and release situations, and ex-hostages' experiences. It lays out how and to what extent causes are related to aspects of development cooperation in terms of poverty alleviation, good governance, and anti- corruption and provides recommendations regarding individual risk mitigation as well as possible entry points for prevention strategies focusing on those aspects were development cooperation may intervene.