Sana'a, Yemen  - Armed tribesmen freed two Colombian engineers after three days of captivity in southern Yemen, local officials said Monday.

"The two men were freed and they are in good condition," Yaslam Abu-Sitt, the mayor of the Ahwar district in the southern province of Abyan, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

He said the kidnappers handed the two hostages to the governor of Abyan Ahmad al-Maisary after tribal dignitaries mediated a solution for the crisis.

Abu-Sitt further said the kidnappers received guarantees from government officials that their demands would be met.

The kidnappers, who belong to the powerful Al Kazim tribe, demanded the release of fellow clansman detained by police in connection with criminal offences, according to tribal sources.

They abducted the two engineers, Hetor Marti and Rafael Ayala, at gunpoint as they drove to their work at a gas exporting project in the neighboring province of Shabwa on Friday.

Shabwa, some 580 kilometres south-east of the capital Sana'a, has been the scene of several kidnappings of foreigners in recent years.

Armed tribesmen from impoverished areas of the Arabian peninsula 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.

The latest kidnapping took place in Shabwa on August 12 when tribesmen abducted a French engineer of Algerian origin and held him hostage for one day.

In May, a group of armed tribesmen abducted two Japanese female tourists and held them for several hours in the north-central city of Marib.

In 1998, an Islamic militant group kidnapped 16 Western tourists, four of whom died in a botched rescue attempt by police forces, and in 2000, a Norwegian diplomat was killed in a similar rescue attempt. (dpa)