Yemen Rivals Complete Prisoner Swap as UN Pushes for Peace Deal
Yemen Rivals Complete Prisoner Swap as UN Pushes for Peace Deal
(Bloomberg) --
Yemen’s internationally recognized government and Houthi rebels completed a prisoner swap on Friday under United Nations supervision, injecting new life into peace efforts that have failed to end the country’s war.
Two hundred Houthi and 150 government prisoners and detainees were exchanged, taking the total number swapped over two days to the 1,081 agreed at talks in Switzerland in September.
Planes of the International Committee of the Red Cross took off from Sana’a, Yemen’s Houthi-controlled capital, and the southern port city of Aden carrying the prisoners, according to the rebels’ Al-Masirah TV and government-run Saba news agency.
Among those freed since Thursday are 15 Saudis, four Sudanese, and five Yemeni journalists held by the Houthis for more than five years.
UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths said in a statement he hoped the swap would “build confidence and momentum by demonstrating that peaceful dialogue can deliver.”
The Iran-aligned Houthis have run Sana’a since they evicted the government in an uprising that started in 2014. A Saudi-led coalition has been fighting to restore its ally for more than five years, contributing to the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
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