Nine foreigners kidnapped in North Yemen

Yemen authorities have accused a Shiite rebel group of kidnapping nine foreigners in the country's north.

The Interior Ministry said the foreigners were kidnapped on Friday by a rebel group led by Abdel Malak al-Hawthi, while on a picnic in northern Sada province.

The statement did not identify the foreigners. But local Yemenis in Sada said the group included a German doctor, his wife and five children, as well as a Briton and his wife.

The state news agency Saba said the foreigners worked in a hospital in Sada.

The rebels rose up against the government in the predominantly Sunni Yemen in 2004. They reached a fragile truce with the government last year.