ADEN, Yemen, Dec. 23 — Yemen’s internationally recognized government and the Houthi group have agreed to a new swap involving nearly 3,000 detainees in total, including seven Saudis and 23 Sudanese nationals, officials from both sides said on Tuesday.
Abdul Qader al-Murtada, head of the Houthis’ committee for prisoner affairs, said on social media platform X that the deal includes the release of 1,700 Houthi detainees in exchange for 1,200 government-affiliated detainees, as well as seven Saudi nationals and 23 Sudanese nationals held by the Houthis.
A Yemeni government official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that the agreement includes the case of Mohammed Qahtan, a senior Islah party figure abducted by the Houthis 10 years ago in the capital Sanaa.
He refused to provide further details on Qahtan’s condition.
The deal followed a 12-day meeting held in the Sultanate of Oman, according to Hans Grundberg, the UN special envoy for Yemen, who welcomed the agreement as “a positive and meaningful step that will hopefully ease the suffering of detainees and their families across Yemen.”
Yemen has been gripped by conflict since late 2014 when Houthi militants seized control of the capital Sanaa, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene the following year in support of the internationally recognized government.
An UN-mediated truce between the Yemeni government and the Houthi group, brokered in April 2022, lasted six months before expiring.
However, both sides have largely maintained a “de facto ceasefire” since then.
The last major UN-mediated detainees swap between the Yemeni government and the Houthi group took place in 2023, with around 900 detainees released. (Namibia Daily News/Xinhua)
