Jürgen Chrobog is no stranger to kidnappings of westerners in the Muslim world. The former deputy foreign minister was in charge of efforts to free 14 Europeans taken by Islamic extremists in the Sahara desert in 2003. But the fate of the man known in Berlin political circles as a problem solver is now in the hands of others since he and his family were abducted in Yemen last week.

On Wednesday, Germany's Foreign Ministry confirmed that shortly after the 65-year-old Chrobog, his wife and three sons began a private visit to the country on Dec. 24, they were kidnapped during a tour of the Yemen's eastern mountain region. The family was apparently abducted by a Yemeni tribe hoping to blackmail the government into releasing imprisoned members of their clan. 

Officials in both Berlin and Yemen are confident of a quick release for Chrobog and his family, who are reportedly safe and not in immediate danger. According to German public broadcaster ARD, the crisis task force in the German Foreign Ministry dealing with the incident said the kidnappers' demands were relatively simple to fill and Yemeni officials wanted to resolve the matter as soon as possible since Chrobog was visiting on the invitation of a former Yemeni ambassador to Germany.

The abduction of Chrobog comes on the heels of the kidnapping and release of Susanne Osthoff, a 43-year-old German archaeologist, earlier this month in Iraq. Osthoff has been widely criticized in Germany for her supposed plans to return to Iraq -- where she has lived for years -- despite the continuing danger there.

Criticism of Risk-Takers

Chrobog, who was key in securing the release of 14 western tourists held for months by Islamic extremists in the Sahara desert in 2003, recently criticized the "social-security mentality" that many Germans seemed to have of their government when traveling in dangerous regions. "There's always the expectation of total insurance by the state, but we can't create miracles," he recently told Bayerischer Rundfunk radio.

The irony of the situation that now that he and his family have been abducted in a country notorious for such kidnappings has not been lost on many German commentators.

"Why did Chrobog feel compelled a few days ago to attack supposed adventure tourists while maintaining his own travel plans to a dangerous region?" asked the Berliner Zeitung in its Thursday edition, adding that travel warnings issued by the Foreign Ministry were worthless if a former deputy foreign minister disregarded them so shortly after retiring from the diplomatic service.

Other observers concentrated on the debate about just how much Germans can expect from their government when they choose to go to risky places. "Yemen is a land where kidnapping foreigners is almost a daily occurrence as part of its folklore," wrote Cologne's Kölnische Rundschau. "Following the discussion about the controversial behavior of (Susanne Osthoff), it's not without irony that the former deputy foreign minister Jürgen Chrobog and his family have now become victims of kidnappers."