Background:

Truus Wierdsma, a Dutch medical doctor who lives and works with other Christian medical staff in a government hospital in Ṣaʿada, northern Yemen, speaks about the kidnapping of the Koolstra family; father, mother and small children. Wierdsma knew the Koolstra family well since Hans Koolstra, the father, managed the office in Ṣanaʿaʾ from where supplies for the isolated hospital were provided. The Dutch family was kidnapped in Yemen in January 1999 by a tribe who tried to get one of their tribe members released. There were several kidnappings of foreigners in Yemen by tribes in the mid-nineties. The kidnapped people were brought to isolated locations in Yemen where the Yemeni government had no authority. Such kidnappings were usually followed by negotiations between the tribe and government in an effort to press the government to make certain concessions in favor of the tribe. Kidnapped people were usually well treated by the tribesmen. However, families and friends were left in uncertainty in order to increase pressures on the government. In the case of the Koolstras, however, it concerned a dispute between two tribes.

For more information please refer to the following tapes: 

• First telephone call of the Koolstra family after their release:

http://www.arabwestreport.info/en/first-telephone-call-koolstra-family-a...

• Hans Koolstra after his release in Yemen:

http://www.arabwestreport.info/en/hans-koolstra-after-his-release-yemen

• Dutch Radio Program Tijdsein: Interviews Hans Koolstra after his release in Yemen:

http://www.arabwestreport.info/en/dutch-radio-program-tijdsein-interview...

• Minister of Information ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Aqwā on kidnappings of foreigners in Yemen I:

http://www.arabwestreport.info/en/minister-information-%CA%BFabd-al-ra%E...

• Minister of Information ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Aqwā on kidnappings of foreigners in Yemen II:

http://www.arabwestreport.info/en/minister-information-%CA%BFabd-al-ra%E...

Side A:

Cornelis Hulsman asks which part of the interview is personal and which part of the interview can be used for an article in the Dutch newspaper ‘Reformatorisch Dagblad’ (Reformed Daily, RD). Truus Wierdsma was hesitant at first, but eventually agreed on sharing the information once she was informed that it would solely be used for the RD. However, Wierdsma mentions that the Dutch Embassy in Yemen instructed her not to share certain information at the time due to precautionary measures regarding the wellbeing of the Koolstra family.

Wierdsma explains the motives behind the kidnapping of the Koolstra family. There were two tribes involved of whom the names were unidentified. For ease of comprehension, the tribes are distinguished between as tribe A and tribe B. Wierdsma says that tribe A kidnapped the Koolstras in order to release one of their tribe members, who was taken captive by tribe B. Tribe B took him captive because someone from tribe B got killed by tribe A. The man who was captured was allegedly not the killer, but in tribal disputes this does not matter. It is all about taking someone from the other side.

According to Wierdsma, these kinds of tribal kidnappings mostly end well for the people who are involved, so it is very likely that the Koolstra family will not be harmed. However, they might be traumatized by the experience of the kidnapping itself, as at the time of the kidnapping, the family did not know it would be a tribal one. For all they knew, they might have been terrorists. Wierdsma asks to pray for both the people who are kidnapped, as the kidnappers themselves.

Furthermore, Hulsman and Wierdsma then discuss how the media might cover the kidnapping of the Koolstra family. Wierdsma ensures that the kidnappers are decent people with morals, who would not kill innocent civilians, like extremists who might. Wierdsma says that poverty is one of the main reasons why the number of kidnappings has risen. Because most people from Yemen are armed and Western people are not, thus Western people are an easy target.

Side B:

Cornelis Hulsman and Truus Wierdsma discuss the content of the interview and the way it should be published in the Dutch newspaper Reformatorisch Dagblad.