SANA'A: Sheikh Tareq al-Fadli, a prominent tribal leader of the southern province of Abyan told Bikyamasr.com that he was confident the Saudi vice-consul would soon be released as he was personally overlooking his release, stressing that Abdullah al-Khalidi was in perfect health and good spirit, given the circumstances. The Saudi diplomat, who was kidnapped on March 28th in front of his residence in Aden by al-Qaeda militants, was first believed to have fallen victim of a family personal vendetta revolving around a civil marriage. As it happened, al-Khalidi had been abducted by Ansar al-Sharia, an offshoot of al-Qaeda in Yemen which has been using kidnapping of foreign officials and aid workers in a bid to secure the release of its imprisoned fighters, both in Yemen and in Saudi Arabia. After the Saudi Foreign Minister announced that the Kingdom would never negotiate with terrorists, Riyadh urged the Yemeni government to intervene in the matter and organize a tribal mediation committee to communicate with the Islamists. Earlier last week, sources within the Saudi embassy in Sana'a, the Yemeni capital revealed to the press that a member of al-Qaeda had contacted the Saudi authorities in regards to the group's demands against the release of the vice-consul, demanding that all alleged al-Qaeda prisoners in the Kingdom be released. The man who was identified as being Mishaal al-Shodookhi, a well-known al-Qaeda militant, figures on Saudi Arabia's most wanted list since 2009. Kidnappings have spiked dangerously in Yemen, always involving foreigners as they are fast becoming a trading currency for al-Qaeda. The trend is actually endangering humanitarian efforts as aid agencies are reluctant to endanger their staff, making working in Yemen that much more difficult.
