Yemen: Detained ‘Al-Qaeda militant’ released in exchange for kidnapped doctor.

Yemen freed a man arrested a year ago on suspician of being an Al-Qaeda militant in exchange for the liberation of a Saudi doctor kidnapped two days ago, according to Yemeni news service News Yemen.

Yemen agreed to free Abdullah al-Daba following negotiations with armed men who on Sunday abducted Thafir al-Shahran while he was crossing the border with Saudi Arabia to go to work in the city of Sada where he was director of a hospital.

Kidnapping foreigners is a common practice by Yemeni tribes which seek to put pressure on the government to meet their demands.

It was not immediately clear if the kidnappers