French hostage Isabelle Prime freed

A French woman who was kidnapped in Yemen on February 24 has been freed and is expected to return to France shortly, the French presidency announced early Friday.

"Our compatriot Isabelle Prime has been freed tonight," a statement from the French presidency read. Prime will return home to France "in the coming hours," according to the presidency.

Prime, 30, was working as a consultant on a World Bank-funded project in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa when she was seized along with her translator as they were driving to work. Her translator Shereen Makawi was freed in March.

France has made "every effort to achieve this happy outcome," the statement said, and expressed gratitude to everyone who worked to secure Prime's release, including the Sultan Qaboos Bin Said of Oman.

There is no confirmation yet on the identity of Prime's kidnappers. In June, she appeared in a YouTube video posted by her captors and appealed to the French and Yemeni presidents for her release.

"Please bring me to France fast because I'm really, really tired," she had said in the video. "I tried to kill myself several times because I know you will not cooperate and I totally understand."

Hostages as bargaining chips

Over the past 15 years a number of foreigners have been seized as hostages in Yemen, to be used primarily as bargaining chips by tribal leaders in negotiations with the government, but almost all have been freed unharmed.

An exception occurred this past December, when American journalist Luke Somers and South African teacher Pierre Korkie were killed during a failed attempt by US commandos to rescue them from an al-Qaeda hideout in the country's southeast.

Yemen is home to one of the most active branches of al-Qaeda, and tribal leaders have reportedly sold their hostages to the terror group.

The country was plunged into chaos late last year when the Shiite Houthi rebels seized control of Sanaa and forced internationally recognized President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to flee to Saudi Arabia.

For the past four months, a Saudi-led coalition has been bombing Houthi targets. According to Yemeni health officials, more than 4,000 people have been killed and nearly 20,000 injured thus far in the conflict.

bw/cmk (Reuters, AFP)