Kidnapped S. Africa woman returns home from Yemen

JOHANNESBURG - The South African foreign department on Tuesday confirmed that a kidnapped woman in Yemen had returned home.

"She arrived at the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg yesterday afternoon," said the Department of International Relations and Cooperation spokesperson Clayson Monyela in a statement.

"She is in the country," said Monyela. However, her husband was still being held by the abductors in Yemen.

Working for a local charity development group in the southern city of Taiz in Yemen, they were captured by the kidnappers which were believed to be linked to Al-Qaida in May last year.

Last week she was released after the intensive efforts made by the South African charity organization Gift of the Givers Foundation.

The South African ambassador to Saudi Arabia on Sunday morning arrived in Yemen to assist her return home.

However, no details have been unveiled on how she was freed.

Negotiations are underway to rescue her husband after the kidnappers on Friday demanded a large ransom of $3 million within eight days.

She will try to organize a campaign in South Africa to raise money for the release of her husband.