By DPA,

Sana'a (Yemen) : A group of armed tribesmen freed two Japanese women tourists after holding them in captivity for several hours in the north-central Yemeni city of Marib Wednesday, local officials said.

The officials said the two women were released after the intervention of tribal dignitaries.

"They were handed over to police officials and they are well," a local official told DPA by phone from Marib, some 190 km northeast of the capital Sana'a.