Saudi Hands over Houthi Prisoners as Yemen Peace Efforts Inch Ahead: Spokesman
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Yemen's Houthi movement said its foe Saudi Arabia had handed over 40 prisoners as part of an agreement to quell border fighting as UN-backed peace negotiations to end Yemen's civil war crept forward.
The Houthis and Yemen's Saudi-backed fugitive former government are trying to broker a peace and ease a humanitarian crisis in the Arab world's poorest country where conflict has drawn in regional powers and killed at least 6,000 people.
"We received 40 prisoners, 20 of those were captured inside Yemen," Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul-Salam said in a statement. He did not say where the remaining prisoners had been captured.
On Saturday, a Houthi delegation in Kuwait, where the talks are being held, presented a plan to the United Nations for a transitional government to oversee a handing over of arms and freeing of political prisoners before elections.
The Houthis have demanded the exclusion of Yemen's fugitive former president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, from a vote, a negotiating source told Reuters.
Yemen's fugitive government want the Houthis to hand over weapons and withdraw from cities captured last year before starting any dialogue, the source said.
"The atmosphere was positive... everyone renewed their commitment to cease hostilities," said United Nations envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.
"We are working to develop a framework that builds on commonalities. Does this mean we removed all obstacles to a political solution? No, but we are getting there."
The stability of Yemen, where al Qaeda and Daesh (ISIL) are vying for influence, is of international concern as the country neighbours Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, and is also near key shipping lanes.
Riyadh and a coalition of Arab states entered Yemen's civil war a year ago in an attempt to restore Hadi after the Houthis ousted him from power.