Yemen claims to have foiled al-Qaeda bid to kidnap UAE envoy

SANAA – Yemen's Interior Ministry said Wednesday it had thwarted an attempt by al-Qaeda militants to kidnap United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ambassador Khaled al-Housi.

Speaking at a press conference in Sanaa, the ministry's Brig. Gen. Mohamed al-Qaeidi said six militants – including two affiliated with al-Qaeda – had planned to kidnap the diplomat but that security forces had foiled the attempt based on intelligence.

Yemeni security agencies also nabbed members of a gang that had kidnapped Saudi nationals and threatened Saudi embassy employees, al-Qaeidi added, giving no further details.

Kidnapping for ransom is common in Yemen, one of the Arab world's poorest countries. In March, the government said it had arrested members of a group that used to kidnap foreigners in Sanaa before selling them on to militant groups, including al-Qaeda.

On Wednesday Yemeni Interior Minister Abdo al-Tarab also sacked several senior police officials over security chaos in the capital Sanaa.

The move was linked to recent security incidents including attempts to assassinate and abduct foreign diplomats, according to the Interior Ministry's media office.

Yemen has remained in a state of relative chaos since the ouster of long-serving president Ali Abdullah Saleh in early 2012 as part of the "Arab Spring" uprisings.