Yesterday, negotiators of the Yemeni government and the Houthi militia in Switzerland completed a partial agreement to exchange 887 prisoners and detainees, after a round of negotiations that lasted 10 days, under UN auspices, and with the participation of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
While the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross are expected to arrange the exchange process, the Yemeni government welcomed the agreement, which will be implemented within 3 weeks, and which will be followed by other rounds to complete discussions about releasing the rest of the prisoners and detainees on the basis of “all for all”.
The Yemeni deal, which came as a culmination of a seventh round of discussions on this file, included 181 people in favor of the government and the coalition supporting it, and 706 members of the Houthi militia, most of whom were captured on the front lines.
The agreement included the release of two of those covered by Security Council Resolution (2216), who are former Defense Minister Mahmoud Al-Subaihi, Nasser Mansour Hadi, brother of former President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, and two relatives of a member of the Presidential Leadership Council, Tariq Saleh, who are his brother Muhammad and his son Afash, in addition to the journalists. The four Houthis sentenced to death, and 19 of the “Coalition to Support Legitimacy” forces.
A previous agreement in the Jordanian capital, Amman, after the sixth round of negotiations, stipulated the release of about 2,200 people from both sides, but the Houthis’ intransigence prevented the agreement from being implemented at once, according to what the Yemeni government says.
A Yemeni agreement in Switzerland to release 887 prisoners and detainees under UN auspices
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