SANAA, May 16 (Reuters) - Separatist Yemeni militants kidnapped three Chinese oil company workers on Sunday in an apparent move to pressure authorities in a local criminal dispute, an official in the eastern province of Shabwa said.
'Negotiations are going on to try to have them released,' the official told Reuters.
The men worked for a unit of the U.S. firm Nabors Industries Ltd in Shabwa, another official said.
Company officials could not be immediately contacted.
Disgruntled tribesmen have often abducted foreigners in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country to press for demands from authorities.
Most of those abducted have been released unharmed, but in 2000 a Norwegian diplomat was killed in crossfire and in 1998 four Westerners were killed during a botched army attempt to free them from Islamist militants who had seized 16 tourists.
Yemen has faced increasing unrest by militants seeking the re-establishment of southern Yemen as an independent state.
North and south Yemen united in 1990. But many in the south, where most of the Arab country's oil facilities are, complain northerners take their resources and deny them political rights.
The government, struggling to stabilise a fractious country in which central authority is often weak, faces international pressure to quell domestic conflicts in order to focus on fighting a resurgent al Qaeda.
(Reporting by Mohamed Sudam; Writing by Firouz Sedarat; Editing by Elizabeth Fullerton) Keywords: YEMEN CHINESE/KIDNAP (dubai.newsroom@reuters.com; +971 4 391 8301) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
'Negotiations are going on to try to have them released,' the official told Reuters.
The men worked for a unit of the U.S. firm Nabors Industries Ltd in Shabwa, another official said.
Company officials could not be immediately contacted.
Disgruntled tribesmen have often abducted foreigners in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country to press for demands from authorities.
Most of those abducted have been released unharmed, but in 2000 a Norwegian diplomat was killed in crossfire and in 1998 four Westerners were killed during a botched army attempt to free them from Islamist militants who had seized 16 tourists.
Yemen has faced increasing unrest by militants seeking the re-establishment of southern Yemen as an independent state.
North and south Yemen united in 1990. But many in the south, where most of the Arab country's oil facilities are, complain northerners take their resources and deny them political rights.
The government, struggling to stabilise a fractious country in which central authority is often weak, faces international pressure to quell domestic conflicts in order to focus on fighting a resurgent al Qaeda.
(Reporting by Mohamed Sudam; Writing by Firouz Sedarat; Editing by Elizabeth Fullerton) Keywords: YEMEN CHINESE/KIDNAP (dubai.newsroom@reuters.com; +971 4 391 8301) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.