Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, December 2, 1993                   TAG: 9312020034
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SAN`A, YEMEN                                LENGTH: Medium

DIPLOMAT IS RELEASED BY YEMENIS

Mahoney was en route to the capital, San`a, from the kidnappers' desert stronghold near the Saudi border Wednesday night, Interior Minister Yehya al-Mutawakil said.

United States Information Service spokesman Rick Roberts confirmed that Mahoney had been freed.

"The embassy of the United States is happy to confirm the release of Haynes Mahoney and his safe return to his family, colleagues and friends," Roberts said in a statement. Mahoney was not expected to reach San`a until today, Roberts said.

Roberts said the kidnappers had negotiated with the Yemen government for Mahoney's release and had placed no demands on the U.S. government.

The tribe that took Mahoney captive Thanksgiving Day had demanded back pay for discharged officers, rental fees for an oil-pumping station in the tribe's territory and development plans for the region.

The interior minister declined to give any details on the agreement to release Mahoney. He would not say whether the government had made any concessions to the kidnappers.

Mahoney, the 44-year-old USIS chief in Yemen, was kidnapped by five gunmen after he left a reception at a hotel in San`a to go to a Thanksgiving dinner at a friend's home.

An agreement for Mahoney's release was apparently reached Monday, and the Interior Ministry went so far as to announce that the diplomat had been freed, but a snag held up the actual release for two more days.

A Yemeni journalist allowed to see Mahoney earlier Wednesday said the diplomat was guarded by 100 armed men in a village at the foot of Al-Najd mountain in the remote desert province of Mareb.