Press body condemns treatment of kidnapped Dutch reporter in Yemen

International press freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders (RWB) on Tuesday condemned the treatment of kidnapped Dutch journalist Judith Spiegel, who was kidnapped in June with her husband in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a. The Spiegel couple were shown on a video on July 15, appealing to the Dutch government to meet the demands on the kidnappers, demands which were not publicly disclosed. The couple said they were being held by armed men who were threatening to shoot them if no solution was found to the stand-off within 10 days. The kidnapping is believed to have taken place in the second week of June and was confirmed June 15 by Yemeni authorities, which said the Spiegels were lifted in a district of the capital. "Reporters Without Borders firmly condemns their abduction and the unacceptable way their lives are being threatened in order to press demands. Abductions are frequent in Yemen and journalists are often targeted by the armed groups that have proliferated since President Ali Abdallah Saleh's departure," the Paris-based RWB said. "We pin our hopes on the Dutch and European authorities," RWB added. "The necessary resources must be deployed in order to obtain the release of this journalist and her husband as soon as possible." Spiegel is a Yemen-based reporter for various Dutch media including "Radio Netherlands Worldwide" and the Belgian broadcaster "VRT".