An American diplomat, on his way to a Thanksgiving reception, is kidnapped in Yemen, the first known kidnapping of a diplomat in Yemen. Reporting on the kidnapping describes “the country south of Saudi Arabia” as “faction ridden” and ascribed the hostage taking to “a squabble between competing factions.” The press reported that “conservative” North Yemen and formerly Marxist South Yemen united to create the latest version of the country. Interior ministry officials said the diplomat—Haynes R. Mahoney—had been taken to Marib, which the news media described as “oil rich,” its only seeming geopolitical frame of reference.
“There has been little activity in Yemen by radical Muslim fundamentalist groups that might strike at American targets in response to President Clinton’s meeting on Wednesday with the novelist Salman Rushdie,” the New York Times said, the narcissistic frame of reference virtually oblivious to the emergence of radical Islam.