Yemeni tribesmen freed five Italian tourists today after holding them for five days to press authorities to release jailed family members, Yemeni officials said.
Italy's ambassador to Yemen said the tourists - two men and three women - would be taken to the capital, Sanaa.
The kidnapping of the Italians on Sunday was the fourth of Westerners in less than two months and stoked fears of a return to the wave of abductions that swept Yemen several years ago.
Security officials said the kidnappers, from the Zaidi tribe, had surrendered to the authorities after five days of negotiations backed by a huge security siege of their hideout.
But it was not clear if the government had agreed to part of the kidnappers' demands as previous negotiations with hostage takers in Yemen have often been resolved through compromise.
The kidnappers had threatened to kill their captives if an attempt was made to free them by force. The police said they were still hunting down two tribesmen linked to the kidnapping, which occurred in the largely lawless Marib province.
Scores of tourists and foreigners working in Yemen have been kidnapped over the last decade by tribesmen demanding better schools, roads and services, or the release of jailed relatives, but most hostages have been released unharmed.
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has vowed to crack down on abductions and said kidnappers will be prosecuted.
Yemen has put to death two convicted hostage-takers since Tuesday and a state-run website said the country had decided to execute all kidnappers of Westerners on death row to serve as a deterrent.