The Saudi diplomat Abdullah Al-Khalidi and the Swiss Teacher Sylvia Abrahat kidnapped by Al-Qaeda are existed in Shabwah, local sources affirmed.
The sources said they were transferred from Abyan to the Kood mountains of Shabwah after Ansar Al-Shariah militants were dislodged of Abyan by the Yemeni army last month.
They spelt out that a mediation led by tribal leaders are ongoing, pointing out that the abductors still insist to have $10 million as ransoms and that challenges the mediation efforts.
Well-informed sources expected that al-Khalide will be released on Sunday, but they gave no further information about his release. News reports said last week that a tribal mediation reached an agreement to unleash al-Khalidi.
For his part, the Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Ali Al-Hamdat told Okaz Newspaper that there were no contacts to free Al-Khaldi by captors.
A tribal source had revealed that a prominent tribal leader Saleh Al-Awlaki and other tribal leaders have conducted negotiations with al-Qaeda for weeks to release the Saudi diplomat, pointing out that the mediation faced many difficulties and obstructions.The source added that Ansar Al-Shariah accepted a ransom of $10 million that will be paid for the group by Yemen.The Saudi authorities released last week al-Qaeda-linked female prisoners of Al-Qaeda, and reopened its embassy in Sana'a after four months of closure.
Al-Khalidi was kidnapped in the port city of Aden on March 28 and two video messages of al-Khalidi were posted by Al-Qaeda in which he appealed to the Saudi authorities to meet the demands of captors through releasing al-Qaeada prisoners and pay a ransom.