THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The Dutch government says a reporter and her partner who were taken hostage in Yemen six months ago have been released unharmed.
The foreign ministry said Tuesday that reporter Judith Spiegel and Boudewijn Berendsen are in "good physical condition, extremely happy to have survived their ordeal unharmed and wishes nothing more than to be soonest reunited with their family."
They were snatched in Sana'a on June 8 and released in recent days close to the Dutch embassy in the Yemeni capital.
Abductions are frequent in Yemen, an impoverished nation where armed tribesmen and al-Qaida-linked militants take hostages to swap them for prisoners or cash. The Dutch government says it never pays ransom to free any hostages.
Spiegel worked for the national broadcaster NOS and the newspaper NRC Handelsblad.