The UAE rescues a 64-year-old Briton held by al Qaeda.

The UAE said Sunday it had liberated Douglas Robert Semple who had been kidnapped by al Qaeda militants in February 2014, according to a government statement published in the official WAM news agency.

The statement said the petroleum engineer had been abducted in Yemen's Hadramawt province, a vast arid region, but has since been taken to Yemen's southern city of Aden where he was flown to Abu Dhabi.

The UK's Foreign Office in London confirmed that a British hostage in Yemen had been freed by but did not identify him or provided further details.

"I'm pleased to confirm that a British hostage held in Yemen has been extracted by UAE forces in a military intelligence operation," Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said in a statement released while he was in Tehran to reopen the British embassy in Iran.

Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan had telephoned British Prime Minister David Cameron on Saturday night to inform him of the operation, WAM reported, and said the Briton would be returned to the UK after he had received a medical clearance to travel.

The UAE is part of the Saudi-led and US-backed military coalition that has been launching airstrikes against Shiite rebels in Yemen since March.

Foreign nationals are frequently targeted by kidnappers in Yemen. Some are thought to have been abducted by opportunistic criminals who subsequently sold them on to al Qaeda-linked militants.

A French hostage kidnapped in the capital Sana'a in February was freed earlier this month, apparently after mediation by Oman.

In December, a US and a South African hostage held by Islamist militants were killed in a failed rescue attempt by US forces.

jar/ng (AP, AFP, dpa)