Saudi Arabia's security forces freed two young German girls held hostage for nearly a year in Yemen, the Saudi Interior Ministry said Tuesday, but the fate of their doctor parents, an infant brother and a British national was unknown. “Saudi Arabia has retrieved two German children kidnapped in Yemen,” Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour Al-Turki said. He said the two girls, aged three and five, are in a Saudi hospital. “Their condition is okay. But they are in the hospital to make sure they get any medical care they might need,” he said. An Interior Ministry statement released on the SPA news agency said the girls were freed Monday. “Security forces in communication with Yemen counterparts were able to recover two German girls in the border region between the two countries on Monday,” the statement said. “We got information and we thought the two girls were so close,” the Interior Ministry spokesman said. “This was an intelligence operation. Our operation did not actually have any security forces inside Yemen,” Al-Turki said. “It was a humanitarian effort and a job that we could take on.” He said he had no information on the four remaining hostages, but indicated that the operation by interior ministry special forces and intelligence is ongoing. “We don't have any idea about the others,” he said. “I believe the operation still has some objectives to achieve.”However, a family spokesman in Germany said that the brother was probably dead. “There is one missing ... We have to assume that the boy is no longer alive,” said Reinhard Poetschke. The fate of the unidentified British man was also unknown. “We are urgently investigating these reports and remain in close touch with the Yemeni authorities,” a British Foreign Office spokesman said in London. “We remain concerned for the safety of the kidnapped British national.” Taha Hajir, the Governor of Sa'ada, said that he was following closely the news of the release of the two German children. “This renews our hope that the other five foreigners are alive,” he said. The girls were part of a group of seven Germans, a Briton and a South Korean seized in Yemen's northern mountains in June last year. The bodies of two German women and the South Korean were found soon after the abduction. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said the rescued girls were in relatively good health in Saudi Arabia and would return home Wednesday, but he remained concerned about the remaining three German hostages. “The two girls are now in safe hands with the Saudi authorities. Considering the circumstances they are doing well,” Westerwelle was quoted as saying by a news agency. “Our efforts are continuing undiminished to shed light on the whereabouts of the remaining hostages. Their fate is causing us great concern. We are hoping for a happy outcome for them too,” he added. The German ambassador in Riyadh Volkmar Wenzel praised the work of Saudi security forces. “They have done heroic work in releasing the two hostages and on behalf of the German government I'd like to express my gratitude for the efforts of the Saudi Ministry of Interior which has played a great part,” Wenzel said. – Okaz/SG (With inputs from agencies) __
