Australian kidnapped in Yemen 'safe and well': Bishop

An Australian soccer coach kidnapped in Yemen last October has been released and is safe and well in Oman, the government has confirmed.

Craig McAllister (Yemen Post Newspaper. Twitter)

Craig McAllister. Source: Yemen Post Newspaper. Twitter

An Australian soccer coach kidnapped in Yemen last year has been released and is safe and well, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has confirmed.

Craig McAllister was kidnapped in October by an unnamed group that demanded a ransom from the Australian government for his release.

Ms Bishop confirmed Mr McAllister is now "safe and well" following months of work by the federal government.

She thanked the Sultan of Oman, Qaboos bin Said Al-Said, for Oman's work to find Mr McAllister and take him in.
"I deeply appreciate the efforts of officials from across government - who continue to provide the family assistance - and of many other parties in Australia and overseas," she said in a statement on Wednesday night.

"The government will not be making any further comment on this case in order to protect other Australians who remain captive overseas or face the risk of kidnapping."

She said Australians were strongly discouraged from travelling to Yemen given the high risk of kidnapping.

The Omani foreign ministry said Mr McAllister was found with the help of local tribesmen, state news agency ONA reports.

Oman said it had been making efforts to find him on behalf of the Australian government and that Mr McAllister was taken to Oman on Sunday in preparation for his return home.

The football coach appeared in a video recording on the internet last year asking the government to pay the ransom.


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Published 24 May 2017 7:56pm
Updated 24 May 2017 10:13pm
Source: AAP


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