RIYADH (AFP) - A Saudi diplomat kidnapped in Yemen almost three years ago and handed to Al-Qaeda, has been freed and returned to the kingdom, the interior ministry said Monday.

Abdullah al-Khalidi, deputy consul in the southern port city of Aden, who was kidnapped on March 28, 2012, was freed following "intense efforts" by the Saudi intelligence services, a ministry statement carried by the official SPA news agency said without elaborating.