Yemen rebels announce new prisoner swap deal with gov’t

By Shukri Hussein

SANAA, Yemen (AA) – Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Sunday announced a new prisoner swap agreement with the Yemeni government.

This came shortly after the two rivals completed the exchange of nearly 900 prisoners.

“An upcoming deal will include the release of 700 captives in exchange for 700 prisoners from the other side,” Abdul-Qader al-Mortada, head of the Houthi committee for prisoners’ affairs, told a press conference in Sanaa.

He, however, did not provide any details about the date of the planned swap deal.

There was no confirmation yet from the Yemeni government or the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

On March 20, the Yemeni government announced an agreement with the Houthi group to release 887 prisoners and abductees from both sides, at the conclusion of consultations held in Switzerland.Last year, the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels signed a UN-brokered deal to free 2,000 prisoners, but their release was disrupted amid mutual accusations of violations of the agreement.

Yemen has been engulfed by violence and instability since 2014, when Iranian-aligned Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital, Sanaa.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar