Jordan Says to Host UN-Sponsored Yemen Meeting on Prisoner Swap
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Jordan agreed Tuesday to a UN request to host a meeting between forces loyal to Yemen’s fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and Ansarullah troops to discuss a prisoner swap deal, a Jordanian foreign ministry statement said.
The statement did not say when the meeting of a follow-up committee set up to discuss implementing the deal would convene, the Daily Star reported.
In peace talks in Sweden last month, the sides agreed to a series of confidence-building measures, including an exchange of thousands of prisoners.
Implementation has been slow, marred by violence and ongoing distrust between the sides.
Following a truce agreed in Sweden in December, the UN is working to schedule a new round of consultations, possibly in Kuwait, aimed at drafting a political framework to put an end to the Saudi-led war against the impoverished Arab country.
The Saudi aggression has killed thousands of people and unleashed the world's worst humanitarian crisis, according to the United Nations.
UN aid officials say 80 percent of the population - 24 million people - are in need of aid and nearly 10 million are just one step away from famine.
