Cairo/Istanbul, Mar. 21, (dpa/GNA) – The Yemeni government and their rival Houthi rebels agreed on Monday to exchange nearly 900 prisoners, amid new diplomatic efforts by the United Nations to reach a sustainable truce in the war-torn country.
Earlier this month, negotiators from both sides began UN-brokered talks in Switzerland.
Houthis will release 181 prisoners in exchange for 706 to be released by the Saudi-backed government, Abdul-Qadir al-Mortada, the head of the rebels’ Prisoner Exchange Committee, said on Twitter.
The exchange is scheduled to take place after three weeks, and another round of talks is expected following the holy month of Ramadan that will begin this week.
Prisoners to be released by the Houthis include Saudi and Sudanese nationals, al-Mortada added.
Government negotiator Majed Fadael said the deal includes releasing four journalists sentenced to death by the Houthis, as well as senior government military officials including a former defence minister and sons of commander Tareq Saleh, currently a member of the country’s presidential council.
“The parties have agreed on implementation plans to release 887 conflict-related detainees from all sides,” UN special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said in comments to the press.
“They also agreed to reconvene in mid-May to discuss more releases. They further committed to exchange joint visits to each other’s detention facilities and to enable access to all detainees during these visits.”
Grundberg also said that “Yemen has an environment right now where there are possibilities to take serious steps forward, and that is something that needs to be used.”
The US meanwhile said that the prisoner exchange deal was an “important step.”
“Over the past year and thanks to active and persistent U.S. diplomacy, Yemen has seen the lowest level of violence since the war began over a decade ago,” US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.
“We remain committed to building on this work to advance a durable resolution to the conflict.”
In 2020, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) facilitated the largest swap deal by Yemen’s rivals with more than 1,000 people released over two days.
The two sides have been in conflict since 2014, when the Houthis took over the capital Sana’a and other cities, driving government members to flee towards the south.
In March 2015, Saudi Arabia launched a military coalition to support government forces when the Houthis advanced towards the government’s temporary seat Aden.
Last year, the UN brokered one of the longest lulls in fighting with a truce between April and October.
GNA