Yemen gunmen kidnap British teacher: Security official

SANAA: Gunmen have abducted a British teacher in Sanaa, in the second kidnapping this month of a British expat in violence-hit Yemen, a security official said Thursday.

The unidentified gunmen captured the teacher on Wednesday evening as he returned from work, the official said. A Western diplomat confirmed the kidnapping.

The teacher, whose identity has not been revealed, works for the American education and training organisation AMIDEAST, the official said.

The gunmen took him to an unknown destination.

On February 4, an oil sector official said that unknown gunmen had abducted a British worker in Sanaa, but London has not so far confirmed his kidnapping.

Late January, tribesmen abducted a German in the capital, demanding the release of jailed relatives in exchange for the hostage.

Hundreds of people have been kidnapped in Yemen over the past 15 years, mostly by tribesmen who use them as bargaining chips in disputes with the government. Nearly all have been freed unharmed.

Al-Qaeda militants have also abducted foreigners in Yemen and are currently holding a South African man, as well as a Saudi and an Iranian diplomat.