LOC16:24
13:24 GMT
RIYADH, March 2 (KUNA) -- Saudi consul in Aden Abdullah Mohammed Khalifa Al-Khalidi, who was kidnapped by militants three years ago, has returned home safely, an official source at the Saudi Ministry of Interior (MoI) announced here on Monday.
As a result of intensive efforts made by the presidency of the General Intelligence, the consul was freed and arrived home after being kidnapped in front of his home in the district of Mansoura in Aden while he was on his way to his office on March 28, 2012, the source said in a statement to Saudi News Agency (SPA).
The abducted diplomat was handed later in a suspicious deal to the elements of the deviant group, the source said in reference to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
The group held him forcibly in flagrant violation of Islamic and Arab principles and morals as well as the provisions of humanitarian covenants that protect his rights as a diplomat whose work is limited to helping nationals in the host country to get entry visas into the Kingdom for Hajj and Umrah, it noted.
The MoI confirms that the state spares no efforts for the safety of its citizens, it said, adding the consul will undergo medical tests before being reunited with his family. (end)
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