SAN'A, Yemen - Yemen accused a Shi'ite rebel group yesterday of kidnapping nine foreigners in the country's rugged northern Saada Province.
But the group, which is led by Abdel Malak al-Hawthi, denied involvement and accused the government of trying to tarnish the rebels' image.
"This is a new conspiracy by the ruling regime to launch a new war and tarnish the image of the sons of Saada," the group said in a statement faxed to the Associated Press.
The Yemeni Interior Ministry said the foreigners, whom it did not identify, were kidnapped while on a picnic in Saada.
The ministry said the rebels abducted a German doctor, his wife, and their three children, as well as a Briton and his South Korean wife and two other German nationals.
The Foreign Ministry in Berlin confirmed that seven Germans are missing in Yemen. The ministry has organized a crisis team to deal with the matter, it said.
The state news agency said the foreigners worked in a hospital in Saada.
Tribesmen in Yemen frequently take foreigners hostage to pressure the government on a range of demands and generally release them unharmed.
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