The man was handed to mediators late on Sunday and was on his way to the capital Sanaa, the official told Reuters.

It was not immediately clear whether the government had agreed to the kidnappers’ demand to hold accountable those responsible for the airstrike against Al-Qaeda suspects in December 2009 which killed dozens of people.

In late February, tribesmen had lured Abdulhamid Jun out of the hospital where he worked in Shabwa province, an area of central Yemen where both separatists and al Qaeda militants are active, by asking him to treat relatives they said were injured.

He was then abducted and taken to the neighboring Abyan province, site of the airstrike.