Dutch couple held hostage in Yemen make desperate plea for help, claiming they will be shot withing days unless captors' demands are met Judith Spiegel and Boudewijn Berendsen were seized at the start of June They say they will be shot in ten days unless Dutch government negotiates The video was posted on YouTube early this morning A Dutch couple being held hostage in Yemen have made a desperate video plea for help, claiming their captors plan to kill them next week unless the Dutch government meets their demands. Journalist Judith Spiegel and her partner Boudewijn Berendsen were seized at the start of June as they left their home in the Hadda district of the capital Sana'a. In a video posted on YouTube this morning, Ms Spiegel said she and Mr Berendsen had 'addressed' their country's ambassador in Sanaa with the kidnappers' demands but nothing had been done to bring about their release. Hostages: Journalist Judith Spiegel and her partner Boudewijn Berendsen were seized at the start of June as they left their home in the Hadda district of the Yemeni capital Sana'a 'Now there's another 10 days to do something. These people are armed. If no solution is found after 10 days, they'll shoot us dead,' Spiegel, speaking in Dutch, says in a trembling voice. She did not say how the couple had contacted the ambassador or what the kidnappers had demanded to secure their release. Her partner, Boudewijn Berendsen, said they were afraid. 'Everyone in the Netherlands should get the government and the ambassador into action,' he said, seated beside her. The Dutch embassy in Sanaa referred questions to the foreign ministry in The Hague, where no officials could be reached. A Yemeni police source said last month that Spiegel, who had been working in Yemen as a researcher, vanished with her partner after they left their home in Sanaa's Hadda district, which houses many diplomatic missions. No one has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. Threat: The couple say they will be shot in ten days if their captors' demands are not met. The video was uploaded to YouTube on Tuesday morning Yemen is grappling with myriad problems, including kidnappings of foreigners and attacks on public infrastructure, as it tries to restore state authority lost in 2011 during mass protests that forced out veteran President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Several Westerners have been kidnapped this year in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state, where a transitional government is struggling to impose law outside the main cities. Kidnapping is rife in Yemen. Disgruntled tribesmen often take hostages to press the government to free jailed relatives or improve public services. Al Qaeda-linked Islamist militants have been behind some of the kidnappings. Last month gunmen seized two South Africans in the southern city of Taiz. Three members of the Red Cross, including a Swiss citizen, were also briefly held in May. An Austrian and two Finnish men were released in May after being kidnapped in December and sold to al Qaeda. Austria and Finland both denied paying a ransom. A Swiss woman was freed in February after spending a year in captivity.