Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Naif, second deputy premier and minister of interior, receives on Monday Saudi diplomat Abdullah Al-Khalidi upon his arrival at Riyadh airport after being released from Al-Qaeda captivity in Yemen. — Okaz photo
RIYADH — A Saudi diplomat, kidnapped in Yemen almost three years ago and handed to Al-Qaeda, has been freed and returned to the Kingdom, the Interior Ministry said on Monday. Abdullah Al-Khalidi, deputy consul in the southern port city of Aden, who was kidnapped on March 28, 2012, was freed following “intense efforts” by the Saudi intelligence services, a ministry statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency said. Al-Khalidi was kidnapped in front of his home in the district of Mansoura in Aden while he was on his way to office. He was later handed in a suspicious deal to the elements of the deviant group which held him forcibly in flagrant violation of Islamic and Arab principles and covenants that govern and protect his rights as a diplomat, the Interior Ministry said. It said Al-Khalidi's work in Aden was to facilitate visa procedures for Yemeni citizens. He “will undergo medical examinations and be reunited with his family,” SPA said. The Interior Ministry reiterated that the Kingdom will spare no effort in protecting its citizens and ensuring their safety wherever they are. Yemen has been in turmoil since Houthi militias seized the capital in September. In recent years tribesmen have often taken foreigners hostage as a pressure tactic. Gunmen kidnapped a Frenchwoman and her local driver in Yemen's capital last month as she was on her way to work, Yemeni security sources and French authorities said. The unidentified gunmen intercepted the vehicle on 45th Street in central Sanaa and took the two people to an unknown location, the Yemeni sources said. “She was kidnapped in front of a ministry in Yemen,” French President Francois Hollande told a news conference. — Agencies
