Sana'a  - Armed tribesmen kidnapped a Dutch couple in the Yemeni capital Sana'a on Tuesday. The hostages were unharmed, the Dutch embassy in Sana'a confirmed.

"Yes, two Dutch persons were kidnapped today, and they are in a good shape," an embassy official told the German Press Agency dpa.

The official, who asked not to be named, refused to provide further details about the attack.

Governor of Sana'a, Noman Dwaid said security authorities had located the area where the hostages were being held east of Sana'a.

"Urgent measures were taken to secure the safety and release of the two tourists," Dwaid said in remarks published on the website of the ruling party.

The sources said the couple were abducted at gunpoint from a suburb in the south of the city by tribesmen by a little-known clan called Al Seraj.

Dwaid said the kidnappers moved their hostages to Bani-Dhabian, a mountainous area about 80 kilometres east of Sana'a.

The kidnappers' demands were not immediately clear.

The kidnapping is the third involving foreigners in Yemen this year.

On January 18, tribesmen abducted a German oil expert in the south-eastern Yemeni province of Shabwa and released him two days later. The kidnappers demanded the release of a jailed fellow tribesman.

On January 3, tribesmen seeking the release of a jailed fellow clansman took a South African tourist and her two sons hostage for one day in the southern province of Abyan, but later released them unharmed.

Disgruntled tribesmen from impoverished areas of Yemen often take hostages to use as bargaining chips to press the government for aid, jobs or the release of detained fellow clansmen.

More than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped in Yemen since 1991. Almost all were released unharmed after mediation involving tribal leaders. (dpa)