SANA'A: A source from the committee negotiating the release of Saudi diplomat Saeed Al-Malki in Yemen has said there is “constant contact” with his kidnappers, but a tribal source said outside intervention was making his holders increasingly steadfast in their demands. The committee source said that Al-Malki was in good health and that the Saudi Ambassador was in continual contact with the negotiating team, but that efforts for his release needed to be “speeded up”. “The negotiating committee is working on contacts in the area where the diplomat is being held and is doing its utmost to persuade the kidnappers to set him free unconditionally,” he said. The abductors would, he added in reference to the debt claims believed to have provoked the kidnapping, be “compensated by the tribe”. Saudi Gazette reported Thursday that the kidnappers want SR5 million for Al-Malki's release. Negotiators said that the diplomat, who was taken from Al-Hada Street in central Sana'a last Saturday, was targeted due to the SR5-million debt of another Saudi to a Yemeni from Yafe'e. A member of the tribe to which Al-Malki's kidnappers pertain said the abduction was “damaging to the reputation of the tribe”, but warned mediators against rushing negotiations. “Some tribes with no connection to the affair have intervened, and that has led to the abductors standing firm on their demands,” he said, adding: “The kidnapping is a disgraceful act and goes against the traditions of the tribe. Al-Maliki is a brother, neighbor and guest, and we have been entrusted with his protection in Yemen.”
