Saudi deputy consul in south Yemen kidnapped: police

ADEN - Agence France-Presse

Saudi Arabia's deputy consul in Yemen's southern port city of Aden was seized by unknown gunmen outside his home on Wednesday, a police official told AFP.

"Abdullah al-Khalidi was kidnapped while leaving his home in the Mansoura neighbourhood of Aden," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

He said police have launched an investigation into the kidnapping and are actively searching for the diplomat.

"He was taken to an unknown location and we are searching from him," the official added.

This is the second attack against Khalidi in recent months. Late last year, unknown gunmen stopped the diplomat while he was driving in Aden, pulled him from his car and then stole it. He was unharmed.

Aden borders Yemen's lawless southern Abyan province, where Al-Qaeda linked militants have exploited the weakening central government in Sanaa to strengthen their presence in the country, launching deadly attacks against security forces especially across the restive south and southeast.

The United States says the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, is the most active and deadly branch of the global jihadist network.

Since last May, the extremists have increased their control over several towns and villages in the south, including Abyan's capital Zinjibar.

More than 200 people have been abducted in Yemen over the past 15 years, many of them by members of the country's powerful tribes who use them as bargaining chips with the authorities.

Almost all of those kidnapped were later freed unharmed.