More than two weeks have passed since Al-Khalidi's abduction by unidentified gunmen from the southern port city of Aden, but security agencies in Yemen have failed to secure his release.

Alauddin Alaskari, deputy foreign minister for protocol affairs, said in Riyadh yesterday that he was not aware of the new developments in the case.

He could not provide more details either about negotiations involving tribal chiefs in Yemen or joint efforts led by the Saudi and Yemeni sides to secure an early release. However, a local diplomatic source said negotiations have been under way for the last several days with hopes of success.

He said the incident was possibly related to a civil marriage and he is hopeful that talks with the abductors will succeed. However, Saudi ambassador to Sanaa Ali Al-Hamdan had denied media reports claiming the incident has to do with a secret civil marriage to a local Adeni girl, saying these reports are baseless. “Unfortunately, Al-Khalidi did not have any escort when he was kidnapped,” said Al-Hamdan in a statement released by the Sanaa-based Saudi embassy.

Al-Hamdan, however, said there seems to be no political motive behind the kidnapping. "Hence, I am hopeful that he will be released without any harm," said the Saudi envoy. It's the second time within a year that Al-Khalidi has endured such a terrifying ordeal, having been abducted and released in May last year. In fact, southern Yemen has slipped into a state of relative lawlessness, with armed criminal gangs becoming more brazen in their acts of kidnapping for a ransom.

In addition, Al-Qaeda continues to have cells operating in the country despite the presence of drones and actions of US security forces. "Whether the kidnapping of Al Khalidi was for political or financial gain remains to be seen, but the incident underlines how much the situation there has deteriorated," said the diplomatic source. This has led the Saudi government to direct members of its diplomatic mission to Yemen to remain vigilant and not to go out without an escort.

A Saudi team of experts that arrived in Aden in the wake of the kidnapping is examining the incident in an attempt to find the diplomat's whereabouts. According to local media, which cited residents from Aden, the kidnappers are asking for legal marriage documents as well as a sum of money. Security officials in Aden has refused to comment on the incident or declare the findings of the initial investigation, but a security source told the Yemen Times that Al-Khalidi is believed to have been moved to a mountainous area between Aden and Lahj.

The Aden-based Al-Tareeq newspaper quoted a local official as saying that “the kidnapping of the deputy consul is really weird and mysterious", calling on media outlets to check the accuracy of reports, as the situation is sensitive. In late February this year, unidentified gunmen also intercepted and seized Al-Khalidi's car as well as all of his personal belongings, after they forced him out of the vehicle. In a similar incident recently, Sylvia Abrahat, a 32-year-old Swiss, was abducted in Yemen.

The abduction of Abrahat in Hodeida, on Yemen’s Red Sea coast, is still unresolved. A local source from Shabwa told the Yemen Times that tribal mediators headed by Mullah Ali Abdullah Zabarah in the Al-Saeed area of Shabwa failed to secure Abrahat’s release, due to the unworkable conditions put forth by Ansar Al-Sharia, an Al-Qaeda-affiliated militant group in Yemen. The statement came after Ansar Al-Sharia demanded the release of the widow of Osama Bin Laden and a number of others being detained in Aden.