Yemeni tribesmen briefly kidnap Uzbek doctor

An Uzbek doctor working in Yemen was briefly kidnapped by tribesmen and then released, according to Russian and Yemeni officials.

A Yemeni security official said members of the Shaafa clain in the eastern province of Marib kidnapped him late on Thursday to exchange him for jailed fellow tribesmen. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official had originally said the doctor was Russian.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Igor Lyukin-frolov subsequently announced the man was from Uzbekistan and had been freed.

"The incident indeed occured, but what we're talking about is a citizen of Uzbekistan who at this moment has been freed and is in a hotel in Marib," he told Russian news agencies.

Tribal leaders in Marib confirmed that the doctor had been released once it was discovered that he was a fellow Muslim.

Most kidnappings of foreigners in Yemen are by disgruntled tribesmen hoping to score concessions from the government and are ultimately resolved peacefully.

The impoverished country in the south of the Arabian Peninsula has a weak central government and powerful tribes, as well as a elements of al-Qaida lurking in the hinterlands.

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Associated Press Writer Michael Eckel contributed to this report from Moscow.