Al-Khalidi … free at last
A Saudi Arabian diplomat has been freed and returned home, almost three years after being kidnapped in neighbouring Yemen, the Saudi interior ministry said yesterday.
The ministry said Abdullah al-Khalidi, its deputy consul in the southern Yemen city of Aden, would undergo medical tests and be reunited with his family. He was freed as a result of intensive efforts by the country’s intelligence service, the ministry said, without giving further details.
Al-Khalidi was seized outside his house in Aden in late March 2012 as he was leaving for work. According to Saudi authorities, his kidnappers later handed him over to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). A Saudi fugitive claiming to act on behalf of the organisation contacted the country’s embassy in Sana’a last year demanding the release of Al Qaeda prisoners in Yemen in return for his freedom.
Kidnappings are common in Yemen, and experts say victims have repeatedly been sold on to AQAP after being captured by opportunistic hostage-takers. Last week a French citizen working for the World Bank and her Yemeni translator were abducted in the capital Sana’a. In December a US photojournalist and a South African teacher being held by AQAP were killed during a failed rescue attempt by US forces.
