KSA, Yemen sign cooperation accord; murder, kidnap cases still unsolved

Two months after the gruesome murder of a Saudi diplomat and about 10 months after the abduction of another diplomat in Yemen, Yemeni security officials have failed to solve the murder mystery and made no headway in the case of the diplomat’s abduction.
“Not much progress has been made in the two cases so far,” said Alauddin Alaskary, deputy foreign minister for protocol affairs, here yesterday. He was speaking on the occasion of the signing of two executive programs for cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Yemen in the information and media sector in Riyadh.
However, Saudi and Yemeni officials are exerting all efforts to resolve the cases, he said.
Khalid Al-Anzi, the Saudi embassy official in Sanaa, and his Yemeni bodyguard were killed by unidentified gunmen on Nov. 11 last year. This was preceded by the kidnapping of Abdullah Al-Khaldi, deputy consul at the Saudi Consulate in Aden, about 10 months ago.
Yemeni militants are still holding Al-Khaldi hostage despite all efforts made by the Saudi and Yemeni side to secure his release. Some tribal leaders have been mediating between the abductors and Yemeni officials to facilitate the release of Al-Khaldi, but all efforts have failed so far.
Asked about reports the Saudi Embassy in Sanaa is still not fully functional because of security threats, Alaskary said the Kingdom only closed down its consulate in the Yemeni port city of Aden and its consular section in Sanaa following the abduction of Al-Khaldi on March 28 last year. “The Saudi diplomatic mission is now working normally. All embassy officials are staying in the Yemeni capital today,” he added. Expressing his concerns about the security situation in the neighboring country, Alaskary said strict security measures had been taken to protect embassy officials and citizens in Yemen.
Asked about the details of the cooperation agreements signed by the two countries here on Wednesday, a Yemeni official said they would “boost cooperation between the ministries of information of the two countries.”
The agreements will also help to provide a broader mechanism to forge closer ties in the information and media field besides helping the two sides to co-produce programs and exchange information. This will go a long way in promoting bilateral relations.
He pointed out that the Kingdom went to extend all possible support to Yemen despite several setbacks including the murder of the diplomat. Saudi Arabia, he said, will co-host the next meeting of the “Friends of Yemen” group in London on March 7. More than 35 countries and organizations, besides the Gulf states, will take part in the meeting of this group, which seeks to create the foundations of a more prosperous and secure Yemen.
He also noted that the meeting of the Yemen-Gulf Joint Technical Committee, which has been following the issues related to the financial commitments pledged to Yemen by the GCC states, had yielded desired results. The Kingdom has been extending aid to Yemen for different projects for the last several years. Only a couple of weeks ago, Riyadh agreed to provide SR 45 million to Sanaa for an immunization program against polio and measles.