"The abducted Saudi diplomat has been released and is now in with tribal mediators... maybe he will travel home in a few hours, " the local government official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
The government official said that the al-Qaida kidnappers agreed to release Saudi diplomat Abdullah al-Khaledi late on Saturday night after tribal mediation efforts conducted by prominent tribesmen.
A tribal chief told Xinhua "a successful mediation had been held in a mountainous region between the provinces of Shabwa and Abyan, which managed to secure the diplomat's release."
"He is safe now... and would be flown to his home to join his family as soon as possible," he added.
Abdullah al-Khaledi, Saudi Arabia's deputy consul in Yemen's southern port city of Aden, was abducted by al-Qaida militants outside his residential building in Aden on March 28.
In April, the al-Qaida terrorist group demanded the release of militants in Saudi prisons in exchange for releasing al-Khaledi.
The middle-aged diplomat had been moved to an al-Qaida hideout in the southern province of Abyan or Shabwa, where the militants seized several cities during last year's turmoil.
The Saudi government said in May that the al-Qaida group demanded an immediate release of its detained militants from jails in the Saudi capital of Riyadh in exchange for the abducted diplomat. However, it announced that it "will not bow to the terrorists' demands."
Besides the Saudi diplomat, the al-Qaida group also kidnapped a Swiss woman during the past four months, attempting to force the Yemeni government to release its jailed members from Yemeni and Saudi prisons.
Foreigners are frequently kidnapped in Yemen by powerful tribes and al-Qaida who seek ransoms or intend to force the Yemeni government to meet their political demands.
from XINHUA
2012-08-12 15:35:47
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