Saudi Arabia Renews Yemen Travel Warning

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday renewed a warning to its citizens not to visit Yemen, still reeling from a year of political unrest and an ongoing war against al-Qaida, the state news agency SPA said.

"Given the instability and the security situation" in Yemen, "the (foreign) ministry is renewing its warning to all citizens not to travel" there "until the situation is stabilized," an official said in a statement carried by SPA.

Three Saudis, including two diplomats, have been kidnapped in Yemen in as many years.

In March, Saudi diplomat Abdullah al-Khalidi was kidnapped by al-Qaida militants outside his home in the southern port city of Aden.

A video posted last week on jihadist Internet forums showed Khalidi appealing to Riyadh to meet the militants' demands to secure his release.

Saeed al-Malili, a second secretary at the Saudi embassy, was kidnapped by Yemeni tribesmen in the capital Sanaa in April 2011. He was released nine days later.

In November 2010, gunmen kidnapped a Saudi doctor in north Yemen and demanded the release of nine jailed al-Qaida members. He was released the same day.

Saudi Arabia has also played a pivotal role in the battle to destroy al-Qaida's growing presence in Yemen.

Earlier this month, U.S. media reported that the double agent who infiltrated the militant network and helped to foil a plot to blow up a US-bound airliner was a Saudi.