Yemen rivals ink prisoner swap deal
GENEVA: Yemen’s Houthi rebels and its internationally recognised government reached an agreement on Monday to exchange more than 880 prisoners, the United Nations confirmed, while urging the two parties, at war since 2014, to continue talks.
The agreed exchange comes after Saudi Arabia and Iran, who back opposing sides in the conflict, this month moved towards restoring diplomatic ties after a seven-year rupture.
The parties “agreed on implementation plans to release 887 conflict-related detainees from all sides”, Hans Grundberg, the UN secretary-general’s special envoy for Yemen, told a press conference in Geneva.
The Houthis seized control of Yemen’s capital Sana’a in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led intervention the following year and fighting that has left hundreds of thousands dead and caused one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Participants in Bern, Switzerland “agreed to reconvene in mid-May to discuss more releases”, Mr Grundberg said after 10 days of talks overseen by the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The agreement provides for the release of 181 people detained in Houthi prisons, including Saudi and Sudanese nationals, along with 706 rebels, Abdul Qader al-Murtada, head of the Houthi’s Swiss delegation, told the group’s Al-Masirah television earlier on Monday.
“The exchange will take place in three weeks,” he said.
Mr Grundberg did not wish to comment on questions about deadlines for the prisoner swaps, instead urging the government and rebels to “facilitate the speedy implementation” of the agreement and to “agree on more releases”.
The Swedish diplomat also declined to answer questions about the number of prisoners on both sides, citing “the complexity of the negotiations”.
A UN-brokered ceasefire that took effect last April brought a sharp reduction in hostilities. The truce expired in October, though fighting largely remains on hold.
Majed Fadail, a member of the government’s delegation, said the Houthis would release former defence minister Mahmoud al-Subaihi and other officials, as well as four journalists.