SANNA: 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 today.

“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.

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, makes Yemen a suitable environment for armed groups to hide.