DUBAI - A Saudi Arabian diplomat kidnapped by al-Qaida militants in Yemen urged the Saudi king to meet his captors' demand for the release of women prisoners, in a video message posted on the Internet on Saturday.
"I plead the custodian of the two mosques (Saudi King Abdullah) to bring me back to my family, to my children and wife," said Abdallah al-Khalidi, the Saudi deputy consul in the Yemeni port city of Aden, who was abducted in March.
"I plead King Abdullah ... to save me and release me from al-Qaida in return for the release of the imprisoned sisters," the diplomat said in the video posted on an Internet forum used by al-Qaida members.
Khalidi, who wore traditional white robes and a red head-dress, did not specify who the women were or whether they were linked to al-Qaida, but said they were held by Saudi security services.