A 64-year-old British oil engineer has been freed by United Arab
Emirates forces in Yemen, 18 months after he was kidnapped while working in the
country, the UAE's official news agency said.
Robert Douglas
Semple was being held by al Qaeda in the southern Yemen port city of Aden, WAM
reported Sunday.
He was freed in
a military intelligence operation by UAE forces and flown to the Emirati
capital of Abu Dhabi, where he was taken to the hospital to be checked over.
Semple was also
able to speak with his wife by phone and and will leave for Britain once all
the necessary medical checks are done, the news agency said.
The British
Foreign Office confirmed that a British hostage had been released from Yemen
after being rescued by UAE forces but did not give further details.
"The
British national is safe and well, and is receiving support from British
government officials," Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said in a news
release. "We are very grateful for the assistance of the UAE."
Semple was
working as a petroleum engineer in Yemen's eastern Hadramout area when he was
kidnapped in February 2014, WAM said.
Sheikh Mohammed
bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, called UK Prime Minister David
Cameron on Saturday night to share the news of his rescue, the news agency
said.
It's the second
release of a Western hostage announced in recent weeks.
French national
Isabelle Prime, who was working for an international organization when she was
kidnapped in February along with her Yemeni translator in the capital, Sanaa, was
freed earlier this month.
The UAE is one
of a number of nations that joined Saudi Arabia in carrying out military
strikes in Yemen against Shia Houthi rebels, in an effort to restore the
government of Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi.
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