Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Israeli media: A senior European Union official hinted that 'Israel' would be held accountable for violating international law in Gaza
Al-Qassam Brigades spokesperson Abu Obeida: The losses incurred by the occupation today in Khan Younis and Jabalia are an extension of a series of top-tier operations
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in South Lebanon: The invading Israeli force is digging a trench and erecting earthen berms, amid detected activity suggesting preparations to install espionage equipment
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in South Lebanon: An Israeli force breaches the "technical fence" in the Wazzani area
Israeli media: 4 Israeli soldiers killed in the Gaza Strip
Gaza Government Media Office: Starved citizens are tempted to head to American-Israeli centers and then are deliberately shot
Gaza Government Media Office: The toll at US-Israeli aid distribution centers is as follows: 110 martyred, 583 wounded, and 9 missing
Gaza Government Media Office: 8 starved civilians were killed and 61 others were injured by the gunfire of Israeli occupation forces and an American security company in Rafah
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Three martyrs, injured in Israeli drone strike on phone charging station west of Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Four martyrs, dozens of injured as IOF open fire on civilians near GHF facility west of Rafah, southern Gaza.

Ansar Allah, Saudi-backed government discuss prisoner swap in Geneva

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 11 Mar 2023 15:31
3 Min Read

From Geneva, the UN special envoy urges Ansar Allah and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government to reach an agreement on prisoner exchange.

  • x
  • Yemen Geneva
    UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, speaks to reporters upon his arrival at the Sanaa International Airport, June 8, 2022 (Reuters)

Representatives of the Yemeni Ansar Allah and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government on Saturday kicked off talks in Geneva for an exchange of prisoners, with the UN urging both sides to engage in "serious" discussions.

The new round of closed-door negotiations is being overseen by the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

"I hope the parties are ready to engage in serious and forthcoming discussions to agree on releasing as many detainees as possible," UN special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said in a statement.

The talks -- reportedly set to last 11 days -- mark the seventh meeting aimed at implementing an agreement on prisoner exchanges reached in Stockholm five years ago, the UN noted.

The UN special envoy said it was urgent to reach an agreement.

"With Ramadan approaching, I urge the parties to fulfil the commitments they made, not just to each other, but also to the thousands of Yemeni families who have been waiting to be reunited with their loved ones for far too long," Grundberg said.

The seventh meeting of the Supervisory Committee on the Implementation of the Detainees’ Exchange Agreement started today, Saturday, in Switzerland. The Committee is co-chaired by @OSE_Yemen and @ICRC with the parties to the conflict as members: https://t.co/5oBBapaMbv

— @OSE_Yemen (@OSE_Yemen) March 11, 2023

Under that deal, the sides agreed "to release all prisoners, detainees, missing persons, arbitrarily detained and forcibly disappeared persons, and those under house arrest," held in connection with the war, "without any exceptions or conditions."

Related News

Swiss diplomats take swing at gov. over complicity in Gaza genocide

World leaders condemn ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza

The ICRC noted in a statement to AFP that past meetings mediated by Grundberg's office had "resulted in the release of prisoners on both sides".

"In 2020, more than 1,050 detainees were released and provided with transportation to their region of origin or home country following an agreement reached by the sides," it said.

The latest meeting comes almost a year after Ansar Allah said they had agreed to a prisoner swap that would see 1,400 of its fighters freed in exchange for 823 Saudi-backed or Saudi militants.

But the warring parties have since held a series of talks in the Jordanian capital Amman that did not result in any developments.

"The ICRC is committed to supporting the implementation of future detainee releases and exchanges, and to repatriating or transferring released detainees across front lines back to their respective homes," the organization said.

Emphasizing that it was "a neutral intermediary in this process," the ICRC said it was "not involved in the negotiations on who exactly is going to be released and the identities of the detainees proposed and accepted for exchange by all concerned parties."

In a Twitter post the same day, Ansar Allah delegate to the Geneva talks, Abdul Qader Al-Murtada, said he hoped the negotiations would yield concrete results.

"We hope that this round will be a decisive one," Al-Murtada said.

Read more: UN hopes Iran-Saudi agreement will impact Yemen positively

  • Switzerland
  • Hans Grundberg
  • United Nations
  • Ansar Allah
  • Yemen
  • Geneva
  • Saudi Arabia

Most Read

Lebanon's PM Nawaf Salam meets with US envoy Morgan Ortagus in Beirut on April 5, 2025 (Dalati Nohra via AP)AP)

Morgan Ortagus to exit US role in Lebanon amid policy shift

  • Politics
  • 1 Jun 2025
A Palestinian woman mourns as she embraces the body of her daughter Mayar Abu Odeh, 8, who was killed in an Israeli army strike on Gaza. at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP)

French port workers block arms shipment to 'Israel' amid Gaza genocide

  • Politics
  • 4 Jun 2025
It may well be due to the longstanding relationship between MI6 and HTS, via Inter Mediate, that Britain was the first Western country to recognise their assumption of government in Syria. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab El-Hajj)

How MI6 helped HTS seize Syria

  • Opinion
  • 31 May 2025
Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Monday, June 2, 2025. (AP)

Boston Consulting Group withdraws from GHF

  • Palestine
  • 3 Jun 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/pentagon-chief--nato-likely-to-back-trump-s-5--defence-spend
Politics

Europe spent $3 trillion on defense, but got little in return - FT

Power, parties, and scandal: Trump’s ties to Epstein: Telegraph
Europe

Power, parties, and scandal: Trump’s ties to Epstein - The Telegraph

Eilat port as seen from the sea, occupied Palestine, March 12 2009 (wikimedia commons)
Politics

YAF operations forced 80% plunge in Eilat port revenues in 2024

EU backs International Criminal Court after US sanctions judges
Europe

EU backs International Criminal Court after US sanctions judges

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS