Saudi Gazette report

HAIL — A Saudi national who works in a labor recruitment office was kidnapped and held for a week in the Nepalese capital of Katmandu.



The kidnappers demanded the release of two domestic workers in Saudi Arabia in exchange for his release, Al-Watan newspaper reported.



Relatives of the Saudi national had Nepali workers based in the Kingdom assist them with opening up a channel of communication with the kidnappers. However, the kidnappers refused to release the Saudi until they were assured the domestic helpers would be returned to Nepal.



According to the family, they told the kidnapers that the Saudi was in need of medical assistance due to an illness. The kidnappers then took him to a local hospital.



A relative of the kidnap victim, Yousuf Al-Zuhair, told Al-Watan daily after a relative of a Nepali worker held in Hail managed to smuggle the victim from the hospital and place him on a flight to China and then to the Philippines.



However, the Saudi ambassador in Nepal, Abdullah Al-Busairi’s report conflicts with the above scenario.



In a statement to Al-Watan daily, the ambassador said they received a report of a Saudi national being held against his will by four people in a hotel in the Nepalese capital.



The ambassador said after they contacted the victim, he refused any assistance from the Saudi embassy saying that he was working to solve the problem by himself.



The Saudi man was already negotiating with the kidnappers to return two Nepali domestic helpers from Hail, he said. The ambassador told the Saudi national that the Saudi is responsible for his own decisions, and backed off.



According to the ambassador, the Saudi was later released after he reached an agreement with the kidnappers to send one domestic helper immediately and the other later after his safe return to the Kingdom. The kidnappers released the Saudi, who then left Katmandu.