Reuters
Friday, May 19, 2006; 3:50 PM
DUBAI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates on Friday recalled its top diplomat from Iraq, whose withdrawal was demanded by a group holding another UAE diplomat hostage.
The state news agency WAM said charge d'affaires Ali al-Kaabi returned home "after being recalled to report to Foreign Ministry officials about developments ... (regarding) the kidnapped UAE diplomat Naji al-Noaimi and study with them measures to ensure his safety."
Kaabi's recall was a main demand raised by the group that kidnapped Noaimi in Baghdad on Tuesday.
A UAE official said on Thursday Noaimi's safety was the pro-Western Gulf state's main priority and that it was looking into the kidnappers' demands.
Noaimi's family earlier said they had heard he would be freed on Friday but they had no official word of his release, Arab television stations reported.
Mohammed al-Noaimi, the brother of the kidnapped diplomat, told Al Jazeera television by telephone: "Up to now there is no official confirmation ... and we have had no contact with Naji."
He spoke after another television station, Al Arabiya, said the diplomat had been freed and was on his way to Baghdad airport to return home.
The source of the family's information was not immediately clear.
UAE officials contacted by Reuters declined to comment on the reports of Noaimi's release.
Noaimi was abducted after a short drive from the embassy to visit a colleague. His driver was shot in the kidnapping and later died of his wounds.
Al Jazeera aired a video on Thursday, apparently of Noaimi, from the group calling itself Islam's Banner, and said the group demanded the UAE withdraw its charge d'affaires and close the Dubai-based Iraqi television channel al-Fayha within 24 hours.
The footage showed a man, apparently Noaimi, standing next to a wall. No audio could be heard.
The kidnapping and killing of Arab diplomats and embassy workers over the past year by Islamist militants has worsened the already frosty relations between Iraq's U.S.-backed Shi'ite-led government and Sunni-dominated Arab states.
