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| Arabia |
| Kidnapped Saudi envoy pleads for his release |
| 2013-04-17 |
| DUBAI — A Saudi diplomat held hostage by Al Qaeda in Yemen for more than a year has urged the kingdom to secure his release, in a new video published by the extremist network’s media arm. Abdullah Al Khalidi, Saudi’s deputy consul in the southern port of Aden, was dressed in a traditional black outfit and appeared to be in good health in the 19-minute video interview by Al Malahem Media, apparently produced between February and March. He appealed to the custodian of the two Holy Mosques,King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, to secure his release by meeting his kidnappers’ demands, asking: “Will he release me and return me back to my family and children”? “They are demanding the release of a few women and some clerics” detained by Saudi authorities over their links to Al Qaeda, he said. Militants from Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula seized Khalidi on March 28 last year seeking the release of female prisoners and to collect a ransom. AQAP claimed responsibility for Khalidi’s abduction in April. This is Khalidi’s fourth such appeal. He last appeared in October in a similar recording, and made appeals on May 25 and again on July 1. |
| Posted by:Steve White |