Yemeni government, Houthis reach another prisoner swap agreement

Recent meticulous discussions in Jordan have led to the Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels agreeing to exchange hundreds of prisoners, including prominent Islah party politician Mohammed Qahtan.

The Houthis agreed to swap Qahtan for a number of their imprisoned fighters, Arab News quoted Majed Fadhail, a member of the government delegation, as saying. The discussions will resume in Amman after Eid Al-Adha on June 28 to decide on the date of the swap and the exact number of prisoners to exchange.

Qahtan Was Kidnapped In Early 2015

Talks between the two groups concluded Sunday with positive results, following the Houthis agreeing to exchange the politician in any future swap process, Fadhail said. He declined to disclose the exact number of Houthi prisoners to be exchanged or the ideas that the delegation would discuss with their superiors.

Qahtan was kidnapped by the rebels in early 2015, providing no proof of his location or health to his family. The Yemeni government had threatened a boycott if the Houthis failed to reveal the politician’s whereabouts and allow his family to see him.

Discussions Were “Serious And Responsible”

Following three days of intense discussions, the prisoner exchange talks finally ended on Sunday.

The talks emphasised removing hurdles that delay the implementation of the terms of the previous round of discussions, offering details on forcibly disappeared prisoners, and negotiating a new exchange deal that could lead to the release of hundreds of detainees.

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The talks were “serious and responsible”, said the office of UN Yemen envoy Hans Grundberg, calling on both parties to engage in discussions and reach another exchange deal to swiftly reunite prisoners with their families.

Rights organizations and the Yemeni government have long condemned the Houthi rebels for trying to trade kidnapped activists, journalists, and politicians for their fighters. Four Yemeni journalists who were kidnapped from Sanaa in 2015 were part of an earlier exchange deal reached in Switzerland in March.