SANA’A, July 25 – The Saudi Embassy in Yemen has denied reports about the alleged release of Abdullah Al-Khaledi, the Saudi vice-consul abducted in Yemen by Al-Qaeda in March.

In an interview with Yemen Times, the Saudi embassy secretary said, “It isn’t true that Al-Khaledi will be released soon. The Saudi embassy and its consulate in Aden didn’t reach an agreement to release him. We have had no contact with the kidnappers.”

Various news websites reported in the past two days that the Saudi diplomat would soon be released. Reports suggested that tribal figures reached an agreement with Al-Qaeda to release Al-Khaledi on the condition that Saudi Arabia pays a ransom and would release several abducted persons in its prisons.

A source in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that there is no news yet about any confirmation of the release of Al-Khaledi.