SANAA - A Japanese diplomat was stabbed by unknown armed men in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa on Sunday after he resisted a kidnapping attempt near the Japanese embassy, police sources said.

The diplomat survived the attack after he managed to drive his car into the embassy, the police sources told Xinhua.

The senior diplomat has been sent to hospital and is in stable condition, a medical source said.

The Japanese embassy in Sanaa has not commented on the incident yet.

Foreigners are frequently kidnapped in Yemen by al-Qaida militants or tribesmen who asked for ransom or for the swap for their jailed relatives. Most of the kidnapped have been freed unharmed.