Yemen’s Houthis, Pro-Hadi Forces Agree to Swap Hundreds of Prisoners
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement and forces loyal to fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi agreed over a large-scale prisoner swap as the two warring sides may come to a ceasefire agreement at peace talks in Sweden later this week.
According to Hadi’s foreign minister Khaled al-Yamani, pro-Hadi troops had "come to an agreement" with the Houthis after spending the "past eight to nine months locked in negotiations".
"When we head to the negotiations in Sweden, we will discuss the operational issues of this agreement, how it can be implemented, how to exchange the detainees, prisoners, abductees and the forcibly disappeared," he said, Al Jazeera reported.
Houthi officials are expected to travel to Sweden for talks as early as Wednesday to end the nearly 4-year-old Saudi-led war on Yemen.
Some 8.4 million Yemenis are facing starvation as a result of the Saudi-led aggression, although the United Nations has warned that will probably rise to 14 million.
Three-quarters of impoverished Yemen’s population, or 22 million people, require aid.