UN reports progress in Yemen prisoner swap talks, facilitated by Oman
3 Min Read
Talks facilitated by Oman have brought together the Saudi-backed Yemeni government and the Resistance-led governmenr of Ansar Allah, who control Sanaa and parts of the Red Sea coast.
-
Illustrative photo of Yemenis attending a rally marking the seventh anniversary of the Saudi-led coalition's intervention in Yemen's war, in Sanaa, Yemen, March 26, 2022 (AP)
The United Nations announced on Wednesday that warring factions in Yemen have made progress towards finalizing a long-awaited exchange of prisoners, originally agreed upon six years ago.
Talks facilitated by Oman have brought together the Saudi-backed Yemeni government and the Sanaa government, who control most of the populated areas in Yemen.
"The parties have reached an understanding about arrangements to release conflict-related detainees," the office of UN special envoy Hans Grundberg said.
"The office of the UN special envoy stresses the importance of finalizing this understanding responsibly to achieve tangible results toward releasing conflict-related detainees in accordance with the ‘all for all’ principle," the statement added.
Read more: US threats via Omani backchannels will not deter Yemen: al-Houthi
The negotiations are underpinned by the Stockholm agreement of 2018, which aimed to secure the release of prisoners detained during Yemen's decade-long war.
A previous reconciliation effort in early 2023, facilitated by Saudi Arabia and Iran, led to the release of nearly 900 prisoners in April that year.
But recent peace efforts have faced challenges since the start of US-UK aggressions on Yemen.
Mohamed Qahtan, a prominent official of the Saudi-backed Al-Islah party held by Sanaa since 2015, is among those expected to be released in the upcoming exchange.
Sanaa negotiator Abdelkader al-Murtada confirmed that his leadership has agreed to release Qahtan in exchange for 50 prisoners held by the Saudi-backed government.
Read more: Yemen carries out military operations against 4 ships
On June 11, Eye of Humanity Center for Rights and Development published detailed statistics on casualties and damage caused by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen during its 3,000 days of war so far.
The Center reported that the number of casualties reached 48,841, adding that the number of martyrs reached 18,206, including 4,096 children and 2,461 women.
The Saudi-led coalition dealt heavy blows to the Yemeni infrastructure during the aforementioned period, destroying 607,000 homes, 1750 mosques, and 1272 schools, as per the statistics.
The report also added that the aggression bombed around 1500 civil facilities, including educational facilities, agricultural fields, sports facilities, archaeological sites, and media facilities.
