Yemen’s warring sides finish largest prisoner swap
SANAA: Yemen’s warring parties completed the largest prisonerswap in the country’s five-year war on Friday, with fighters releasing fighters affiliated with influential progovernment fighters.
More than 1,000 people have been released and transported to their homes over the two-day exchange between the Ansar Allah fighters and the government in Yemen.
Ansar Allah said 671 prisoners arrived in Sanaa during the process. The swap has been two years in the making, with the rival sides initially agreeing to it in December 2018 as part of the Un-sponsored Stockholm Agreement, many parts of which have not seen any progress.
Delegates representing the government and Ansar Allah fighters finalised the details for this agreement last month after Un-brokered talks in
Switzerland.
Official Abdel Qader al Mortada said that the two sides had already agreed on another swap and are currently waiting for the United Nations to decide where they can meet to finalise the details.
UN Secretary-general Antonio Guterres welcomed the exchange of detainees, calling it an “important step” in the implementation of the Stockholm Agreement. Guterres also urged the parties “to finalise the joint declaration, consisting of a nationwide ceasefire, economic and humanitarian measures, as well as the resumption of a comprehensive, inclusive political process to end the war,” according to a statement by his spokesperson.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which facilitated the transfer and release of detainees, said that 11 flights in total took off or landed at five different cities: Yemen’s Sanaa, Seiyun and Aden; and Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh and Abha.
“We can say that this was really a successful conclusion,” Katharina Ritz, the head of ICRC’S Yemen delegation, said by phone.
“The people on the street are really very happy. I’m sure it gives hope.”
ICRC synchronised the planes as they left rival cities to ensure both sides it would be a fair exchange, she said, adding that on Friday it was clear people were less nervous than the day before. “Hopefully this is the beginning. There are several thousands still in prison and families waiting for them,” Ritz added.
The ICRC carried out medical checks and provided the detainees with clothes, hygiene material and money to reach their homes. ICRC teams also provided them with personal protection equipment and information on the coronavirus pandemic, and ensured health safety measures were in place during the process. Many of the freed prisoners were injured, and ICRC provided them with crutches or wheelchairs. The Yemen Red Crescent Society and the Saudi Red Crescent Authority supported the ICRC.
On Friday, Ansar Allah fighters released prisoners from Sanaa “affiliated with the southern resistance and the western coast forces, like the Giants Brigade,” an official said.