Al Qaeda Steals Japanese Hostage In Yemen

What we have here....is a Japanese engineer in Yemen who every terrorist in the country wants their hands on. The engineer was kidnapped by local tribesman in Yemen in an attempt to win the release of one of their own imprisoned terrorists....and then enters al Qaeda in Yemen. Elements of al Qaeda descended upon the villagers who held the hostage and stole him from the tribal leaders - now, I don't know about you, but if I was that Japanese engineer, I certainly wouldn't consider this a rescue. More than likely this is now a death sentence.

The MSM has basically ignored the nightmarish mess that is occurring in Yemen - with al Qaeda now entrenched in the country, it is the perfect storm set up for Shia vs. Sunni. You've got Iran involved on the Shia side, you've got Saudi Arabia and al Qaeda involved on the Sunni side and folks like this Japanese engineer are nothing but cannon fodder. The story on this is here from AFP.

The fact of the matter is this - every bloody country in the Middle East is ready to blow up. Who ever thought that the most calm area of the Middle East would be Israel?

Note: If you'd like to follow the nightmare in Yemen most closely, you will find, by far, the best coverage here at Armies of Liberation.

Al-Qaeda seizes Japan hostage in Yemen: tribal source

SANAA — Al-Qaeda gunmen have seized a Japanese engineer from his tribal kidnappers in Yemen, a tribal source who has been seeking to negotiate his release said on Saturday.
"The hostage was seized by elements of Al-Qaeda, who took him to an unknown destination in the Maarib region," east of the capital, Sanaa, one of two tribal mediators told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The man, identified by Japanese media as 63-year-old Takeo Mashimo, was kidnapped on Sunday in Arhab, northeast of Sanaa, by tribesmen seeking to exchange him for one of their relatives being held by police.
He was seized by Al-Qaeda on Friday night, with a second mediator saying Al-Qaeda became involved after being approached by someone close to the detained tribesman who was opposed to the Japanese hostage's release.
The 22-year-old man whose release was being sought by the tribesmen was imprisoned by US forces for a year in Iraq, according to a source in Yemen.
He was later arrested in Syria before being held in Sanaa, where he was sentenced to two years in prison without charges, the same source said.
Meanwhile, authorities have been rounding up members of the Al-Hanaq and Al-Gub tribes responsible for the initial kidnapping, the first source said.
Sheikh Abdul Jalil, a tribal leader, announced on Tuesday that the hostage had been freed but backtracked the following day, admitting he had been mistaken.
"The abductors had said they would free the hostage and had left to get him but when they came back they said they had changed their mind," he said.
Jalil said they had agreed to release the hostage in exchange for their relative within 15 days.
"But at the last minute, they came back saying they want him liberated in three days," the sheikh said.
The kidnappers were distrustful because a previous promise by President Ali Abdullah Saleh to release a detainee was not fulfilled, sources close to them said.
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said on Wednesday that he was hopeful the hostage would be released soon.
He said there was no sign the engineer -- employed by a Tokyo-based consultancy working on construction of an elementary school funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency -- had been harmed in captivity.
Yemeni tribes habitually kidnap foreigners to put pressure on local authorities. More than 200 foreigners have been seized during the past 15 years, with most being freed unharmed.
But five Germans and a Briton who were taken captive in June in the north of the country are still missing and with no word on their fate.
They were among nine people seized in the northern Saada region, the stronghold of Shiite rebels at war with the Sanaa government. The three others in the group -- two Germans and a South Korean -- were killed.
Two Japanese women were released unharmed in May last year after briefly being taken hostage by Yemeni tribesmen.
Yemen is the ancestral land of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and has witnessed several attacks claimed by the group on foreign missions, tourist sites and oil installations.
Al-Qaeda has suffered setbacks due to US pressure but its presence in Yemen threatens to turn the country into a dangerous base for training and plotting attacks, a top US counterterrorism official said in September.
The rugged nature of the terrain, which stretches over 529,000 square kilometres (204,248 square miles), makes Yemen a suitable environment for armed groups to hide.
In October 2000, Al-Qaeda militants attacked the destroyer USS Cole off the southern port of Aden, killing 17 US sailors.
After the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, Washington made Yemen a major focus of its operations against Al-Qaeda.