Sanaa, Yemen (ANS) — More than six months ago a German Christian family of five and a British engineer were abducted in North Yemen. Now there appears to be at least a ray of hope for their next of kin.

According to German media, a recent video shows the three children Lydia (5), Anna (3) and Simon (1). They appear to be exhausted.

This leaves the grandparents and other relatives in a state of anxiousness, as the brother in law told the evangelical news agency “idea”. They were left wondering what may have happened to the parents, Johannes and Sabine Hentschel.

The relatives are dissatisfied with the lack of information by the German authorities. “We would wish to be informed of new traces, before the media pick up stories,” said Rev. Reinhard Poetschke.

The crisis task force at the German foreign office would neither confirm nor deny the existence of the video. The task force was still working hard to find a solution, a spokesperson told “idea”.

The family and the British engineer were kidnapped in mid-June during an outing near Saada. They were with two German bible school students and a South Korean teacher, who were found murdered on June 12. The nine Christians were working at the Al Jumhuri hospital in Saada.

According to the Yemenite government, the victims were murdered by forces linked to the terrorist network Al-Qaida. Deputy foreign minister Rashad Al-Alaimi told the Parliament in Sanaa December 24 that Al-Qaida members had kidnapped the foreigners with the help of Shiite rebels.

Relatives of the abducted German family are grateful for intercessory prayers by many Christians.

In the last 15 years at least 200 foreigners have been kidnapped in Yemen. In most cases, they were set free after ransom payments.

It is not the first time that Muslim extremists have murdered hospital workers in Yemen. Two men killed three US-citizens at a Baptist hospital in Jibla, December 30, 2002. Another American was wounded. The culprits were later convicted and sentenced to death.

Yemen is one of the strictest Islamic countries. 99 percent of the 21 million inhabitants are Muslims. Small groups of Christians gather in secret.

Wolfgang Polzer (59), is senior news editor of the Evangelical News Agency idea, Wetzlar (Germany), which he joined in 1981. In all, he has spent more than 30 years in Christian media. Wolfgang can be contacted by e-mail at Wolfgang.Polzer@idea.de.