Al Qaeda gunmen have shot dead a bodyguard of the Saudi consul in the Yemeni capital city of Sana'a, an interior ministry official said.
Sergeant Khaled al-Enizy, a Saudi national who was the main escort of the Saudi consul, was gunned down Thursday night by masked gunmen in Sana'a a few metres from his home, the official told Xinhua.
A spokesman of the Al Qaeda confirmed the attack.
Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has been holding the Saudi deputy consul for nearly one year after kidnapping him from Yemen's southern port city of Aden.
The outfit is demanding the release of women jailed in Saudi Arabia and a large ransom.