French nationals 'missing in Yemen'

Three French nationals have been reported missing in southern Yemen, officials say.

One Yemeni official said they were aid workers and had been kidnapped, but that has not been confirmed.
The three are reported to have gone missing in Hadramawt in the country's south-east.

There have been dozens of kidnappings of foreigners in Yemen over recent years, and most have been freed unharmed.
Yemen's powerful tribes frequently kidnap people in order to bargain with the government in disputes.
A Yemeni security official told the French news agency AFP that the three men, described as workers, were reported missing on Saturday afternoon when they failed to return to their residence in Seyun.
He added that their mobile phones "were suddenly switched off".
"Units of the security forces were immediately deployed to search for them," he added.
He could not rule out that the three had been kidnapped.
However, another official, quoted by Reuters, said those missing were two women and a man. He said they were aid workers and were abducted after leaving a restaurant.