You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Arabia
Release of Saudi Diplomat Held Since March by al-Qaeda Falls Through at the Last Moment
2012-08-14
Abdallah al-Khalidi, the deputy consul at the Saudi consulate in the Yemeni port city of Aden, who was kidnapped by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula on March 28, was scheduled to be released to local tribal mediators on Saturday (August 11), but on Sunday (August 12), the deal apparently fell through. Thus the release never occurred.

Shortly after the diplomat was kidnapped, an al-Qaeda affiliate demanded an undisclosed ransom payment and the release of several members of al-Qaeda, all women, who were being held in the Kingdom.

In two videos that were sent to the Saudis during al-Khalidi's captivity to prove that he was alive, he is depicted as urging King Abdullah to release women detainees from Saudi jails if he wanted safe release of the diplomat.

A militant who claimed responsibility for the abduction had threatened to kill al-Khalidi unless a ransom was paid and al-Qaeda prisoners were freed from Saudi jails.

COMMENT: Coincidentally, last month [July] five al-Qaeda-linked women prisoners were freed by the Saudi government.

Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour al-Turkis stressed at the time that the move was not connected to the demands made by al-KhalidiÂ’s captors. Yet, for what other reason would the women have been released?

As for the ransom demand, it is unknown as to whether the payment was ever made to al-Qaeda.

With the jailed women released, the only loose end would have been the ransom demand. Thus, it seems plausible that the ransom demand fell through, which may caused al-Qaeda to renege on al-Khalidi's release.
Posted by:gromky

#2  Gromky, you can also change the date/time manually by typing it in before you submit the article.
Posted by: trailing wife   2012-08-14 15:27  

#1  Hm. The "Tomorrow" button on the submission page didn't work.
Posted by: gromky   2012-08-14 11:09  

00:00