(MENAFN- Arab News) Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman on Tuesday awarded diplomat Abdullah Al-Khaledi with the King Abdul Aziz Medal of the Third Order to mark his safe return to the Kingdom after three years as an Al-Qaeda prisoner.

Al-Khaledi the Saudi consul in Aden met with the king and other members of the royal family and government at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh. His father and brothers were also present at the reception.

Crown Prince Muqrin deputy premier Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif second deputy premier and interior minister and Deputy Foreign Minister Prince Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah also attended the reception.

Prince Abdul Aziz said the skill of the country's intelligence forces had ensured the release of Al-Khaledi. He thanked Almighty Allah for the consul's safe return to the Kingdom in good health and praised the king and other Saudi leaders for their role in his release.

He said the operation by the Saudi intelligence forces was a fitting reply to those terrorist organizations that want to abduct Saudi officials and hold them hostage. The country's leaders would do everything in their power to protect citizens across the world he said.

Al-Khaledi was kidnapped on March 28 2012 in front of his house in Aden. Militants from Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) said they seized Al-Khaledi in a bid to secure the release of women prisoners in Saudi Arabia and to raise a ransom. AQAP claimed responsibility for Al-Khaledi's abduction last April.

In December AQAP militants shot dead two hostages American journalist Luke Somers and South African teacher Pierre Korkie during a failed attempt by United States commandos to rescue them in south-eastern Yemen.