Tribesmen in Yemen kidnapped 16 Western tourists who were visiting southern Yemen yesterday, including 12 Britons, diplomats and a Yemeni official said.
They said the tourists also included two Americans and two Australians. They were seized in the early afternoon by tribesmen in the southern province of Abyan.
One diplomat said the tourists had been travelling in five vehicles, but one carrying a Yemeni guide and a British man escaped. The two informed the involved embassies of the kidnappings.
The remaining 16 tourists were abducted and driven to an area called al-Wadea'a in Abyan, 400 km south of Sanaa, in one of the largest single kidnappings in Yemen.
There were no other immediate details.
Yesterday's kidnappings took place three weeks after tribesmen abducted four German tourists, including three women.
Yemeni officials said the Germans were seized by members of the Bani Dabiyan tribe, and were being held in Marib province 170 km east of the capital.
The Bani Dabiyan tribe vowed in a written pledge to the Yemeni President, Mr Ali Abdullah Saleh, in June that it would help the government put an end to abductions.
Mr Saleh in August issued a decree imposing the death penalty for kidnapping.
Newspapers in Yemen said the abductors of the Germans have demanded 90 million rials (about £435,000), several luxury cars, houses, high military ranks and public sector posts for some senior tribal members.