Russian doctor kidnapped in Yemen freed: official

SANAA (Reuters) - A Russian doctor kidnapped on Thursday by Yemeni tribes in the northeast of the country has been released, an official said on Friday.

The doctor, who works in a hospital in Shabwah, was seized in the neighboring province of Marib while he was traveling to the capital Sanaa. He was released unharmed following mediation by tribal chiefs, the official told Reuters.

Kidnappings are common in Yemen and hostages are usually freed, but in June nine foreigners were kidnapped and three were later found dead.

The doctor's three or four kidnappers had demanded the release of one of their relatives in a criminal case, the governor of Marib province said in a statement on the www.almethaq.net website earlier on Friday.

Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country, is battling a Shi'ite rebellion in the north, a wave of al Qaeda attacks and rising secessionist sentiment in the south.

(Reporting by Mohamed Sudam; Writing by Jason Benham)