Johannesburg -
Confirmation is still being sought as to whether two tourists kidnapped in Yemen are South Africans, the International Relations Department said on Tuesday.
“It is very difficult to get information from that part of the world, but our people are working very hard to find out,” said spokesman Clayson Monyela.
“We should have a clearer picture by midday.”
A security official told the AFP news agency on Monday that the kidnapping took place earlier on Monday in the city of Taiz, with the tourists taken while outside a hotel in the eastern part of the city.
Another official said the kidnappers came from the Janadiyah area, 35km east of Taiz.
They belonged to a local chief who had had a long-running dispute with the authorities over a plot of land, the official said, adding the tourists could be used for bargaining, AFP reported. - Sapa