[1/3] United Nations security staff (1st-3rd L) and (8th L), who have been released from the hands of Al Qaeda militants, stand with David Gressly, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, (4th L), and head of the Southern Transitional Council, Aidarous al-Zabidi (5th L), in... Read moreUNITED NATIONS, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Five United Nations security staff who were kidnapped in Yemen by al Qaeda militants 18 months ago have been released, the United Nations said on Friday. The staff - four from Yemen and one from Bangladesh - were in "very good health and good spirits, despite everything that they went through," the top U.N. official in Yemen, David Gressly, told reporters. "But they went through a very difficult period of 18 months of isolation," he added. Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has used a conflict between a Saudi-led coalition and the Iran-aligned Houthis to enhance its influence. Yemen has been mired in conflict since the Houthi group ousted the government from the capital Sanaa in late 2014.

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Persons: David Gressly, Aidarous, U.N, Antonio Guterres, Al, Gressly, AQAP, Michelle Nichols, Rami Ayyub, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: United Nations, Southern Transitional Council, UNITED NATIONS, Five United Nations, Thomson Locations: Al Qaeda, Yemen, al, Bangladesh, Yemen's, Abyan, Saudi, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, Tehran