Houthis, Yemen govt agree to swap nearly 3,000 prisoners

Muscat: Yemen s Houthis and its internationally recognised government yesterday agreed to a prisoner swap that includes nearly 3,000 people, including...

Muscat: Yemen’s Houthis and its internationally-recognised government yesterday agreed to a prisoner swap that includes nearly 3,000 people, including seven Saudis — making it the largest such exchange should it succeed.

The breakthrough deal came after nearly a fortnight of discussions between Yemeni officials from both sides in Muscat, Oman, a key mediator in the conflict that has lasted for over a decade. Officials gave few details about the next steps, with observers pressing both sides to follow through to bolster peace efforts.

Majed Fadhail, a member of the government delegation for the prisoner swap talks, said they had agreed with the Houthis on a new exchange that would see “thousands” of war prisoners released.

He told AFP that this would be “the largest” such deal, adding that “the exchange of lists and names will take place from now and no later than in one month”. Abdulqader Al-Mortada, a negotiator with the Houthi delegation, said in a statement on X that “we signed an agreement today with the other party to implement a large-scale prisoner exchange deal involving 1,700 of our prisoners in exchange for 1,200 of theirs, including seven Saudis and 23 Sudanese”.

Mohammed Al-Basha of the US-based risk advisory Basha Report told AFP that “while today’s developments represent a constructive step toward confidence-building between the Houthis and the anti-Houthi government coalition, significant challenges remain”.