Yemen Signs Largest Prisoner Swap Deal in a Decade
The deal, brokered by the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, could reunite thousands of families after 14 weeks of talks.
- On Thursday, Yemen's internationally recognized government and the Iran-backed Houthis agreed to exchange more than 1,600 detainees in Amman, Jordan, marking the largest prisoner swap during the 11-year civil war.
- The deal follows 14 weeks of negotiations in Amman, building on US-facilitated consultations held in Muscat, Oman, last December after the 2014 conflict erupted when Houthis seized the capital Sanaa.
- Under the agreement, the government will release 1,100 Houthi prisoners while the Houthis release 580 detainees, including seven Saudis and 20 Sudanese, according to Abdulqader al-Mortada, the Houthi head of the National Committee for Prisoners Affairs.
- Both parties committed to further talks on additional releases and mutual detention facility visits, with the International Committee of the Red Cross facilitating repatriation; government delegation head Yahya Kazman confirmed politicians and media professionals will be released.
- Mahdi al-Mashat, head of the Houthis' Supreme Political Council, called the deal a 'historic accomplishment' that surpasses the nearly 900 prisoners exchanged in April 2023, though the conflict continues to kill tens of thousands and trigger one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
65 Articles
65 Articles
Journalists, politicians and Houthis are being released in what is the largest prisoner exchange since the civil war broke out in 2014.
It is the greatest exchange of this kind since the beginning of the conflict. An end to the war is still far away.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), António Guterres, welcomed the agreement reached between Yemen's internationally recognized government and the Huthis rebels for the exchange of nearly 1,700 prisoners. The Portuguese also called on the Huthis to release immediately and unconditionally all UN personnel, non-governmental organizations, civil society and diplomats arbitrarily detained. In a statement released on Thursday, Guterres …
The Yemen agreement providing for the release of 1,100 prisoners on the rebel side and 580 on the government side, including seven Saudis and 20 Sudanese, was praised by the UN Secretary-General.
The Yemeni government and Iran-backed Huthi rebels have agreed to release more than 1,600 prisoners.
Ottumwa Courier
Yemen government and Houthis agree to free 1,600 detainees in the largest swap of the 11-year war
Yemen's government and Houthi rebels have agreed to free more than 1,600 detainees in the largest swap of Yemen's 11-year civil war. The agreement was signed Thursday in Amman, Jordan, after 14 weeks of negotiations. The U.N. and the International…
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