Saudi refuses dialogue with al-Qaeda over kidnap

Saudi Arabia has rejected negotiating with al-Qaeda over the release of a Saudi diplomat seized in Yemen last month, a pan-Arab newspaper reported on Wednesday. However, the oil-rich Gulf nation vowed to do all it can to free the hostage. A Saudi spokesman said on Tuesday that a suspected al-Qaeda militant has claimed responsibility for kidnapping the diplomat, Abdallah al-Khalidi, and demanded the release of militants in Saudi prisons. He threatened in a call to the Saudi embassy in Sanaa to kill the diplomat unless their demands are met. "The Saudi government cannot negotiate or bargain with al-Qaeda, the kidnapping party," the Saudi-owned al-Hayat newspaper quoted assistant foreign minister, Prince Khaled bin Saud, as saying. "We are working and will work with all our power, and we have instructions from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques (King Abdullah) ..., to follow up with the brothers in Yemen to ensure his release," he added. Saudi Foreign Ministry officials were not immediately available to comment on the report. Khalidi, the kingdom's deputy consul in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden, was kidnapped outside his residence on March 28. A Saudi spokesperson said the al-Qaeda caller had been identified as Mishaal al-Shodoukhi, who was named on a list of fugitive al-Qaeda militants by Saudi authorities in 2009. Shodoukhi threatened that his group would "prepare the knives" unless their demands were met, an official Saudi spokesman said, and warned of more attacks including an embassy bombing and the assassination of a Saudi prince. Yemen's political turmoil has strengthened Islamist insurgents in the country, leading to their takeover of some cities in the south of the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state. They are allied with a regional wing of al-Qaeda that has sworn to bring down neighbouring Saudi Arabia's ruling family. Websites associated with al-Qaeda did not carry a claim of responsibility for the abduction. The Saudi interior ministry said last year it was holding 5,696 people for "militant" related cases, most of whom appeared before courts.