UPDATE - Yemen rebels announce new prisoner swap deal with government

ADDS STATEMENT FROM HEAD OF YEMENI PRESIDENTIAL COUNCIL

By Shukri Hussein

SANA’A, Yemen (AA) – Yemen’s Houthi rebels announced a new prisoner swap agreement Sunday 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 the capital Sana’a.

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

There has been no confirmation so far from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

The prisoner exchange with the Houthis is a beacon of hope for comprehensive peace in the country, said Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) President Rashad al-Alimi.

Alimi noted that hundreds of prisoners have already been reunited with their loved ones.

They will continue to work for the release of male and female detainees in Houthi prisons, he said.

On March 20, the Yemeni government announced an agreement with the Houthi rebel group at the conclusion of consultations held in Switzerland to release a total of 887 prisoners and abductees from both sides. Last year, the Yemeni government and the Houthis 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, Sana’a.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar and Gozde Bayar