Red Cross worker kidnapped in Yemen

A French man working for the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) was kidnapped in Yemen Saturday on his way to the port city of Hudaida, an ICRC spokesperson said on Sunday. “We are very concerned for his health and well-being,” spokeswoman Marie-Servane Desjonqueres said, adding “We are hoping for his immediate and unconditional release.” Dibeh Fakhr, another ICRC spokeswoman in Sanaa, said the man who works in the northern city of Saada was kidnapped late on Saturday some 30km (18 miles) from Hudaida. “He was with two Yemeni drivers who the kidnappers released shortly afterwards,” Fakhr said. “Until now we have no contact with the kidnappers or our employee,” she added. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the kidnapping but seizing foreigners or Yemenis is common in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state. More than 200 people have been abducted in Yemen over the past 15 years. The majority have been freed alive and well.