**Armed Yemeni tribesmen have released a Japanese engineer a day after he was kidnapped, local officials say.**The man was handed over to mediators near the scene of the kidnapping in an area north east of the capital, an official told Reuters news agency.
Reports suggest the abductors called for the release of relatives who are being held in Yemeni jails.
The kidnapping of foreigners is common in Yemen, where captors often seek a ransom or concessions from government.
“He is now with the mediators, he will be in the capital within two hours,” the official told Reuters news agency.
The man was taken from the town of Arhab about 60km (37 miles) north east of the capital, Sanaa.
Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the region and is facing growing instability.
In the north of the country, the government is fighting Houthi rebels, a conflict that has grown in intensity since August and has drawn in neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
It is also facing a secessionist movement in the south and an increased presence of al-Qaeda.
Analysts say most foreigners abducted by tribesmen in Yemen are released unharmed, but in July three women from a group of nine kidnapped foreigners were found dead.