A Tajik doctor who was kidnapped by tribesmen in Yemen in October has been released.
Manuchehr Abduev, a Tajik employee of a Russian company in Yemen, told RFE/RL that Gulrukhsor Rofieva (eds: a woman) was released on February 10 and is currently in the hospital in the town of Marib, where she worked as a doctor.
A doctor at the hospital confirmed to RFE/RL that Rofieva had been released. He said Rofieva is very tired but happy to be safe.
Rofieva, 36, went missing on October 29.
In November, Yemen's Interior Ministry said security services were working hard to secure Rofieva's release. Tribal sources said at the time that the kidnappers were pressing the authorities to release fellow tribesmen held on criminal charges.
Hundreds of foreigners have been abducted in Yemen over the past two decades by tribesmen who use them as bargaining chips in disputes with government.
Dozens of doctors from former Soviet Central Asia work in Yemen.