Kidnappers Free American Executive

A Yemeni tribe freed an American oilman after holding him nearly a month, security sources in the Middle East nation said. Steve Carpenter, executive director of Hashedi Contracting & Oil Co., was abducted by six gunmen Oct. 30 as he walked into his company’s headquarters in Sana, the capital. In exchange for his release, the Bakeel tribe demanded freedom for an unspecified number of tribe members jailed for various crimes. The tribe also wanted the government to resume monthly $20 subsidies for each of the its 200 members. It was not immediately clear if Yemen met those demands to win Carpenter’s release.