Amman talks.. agree on proposals for the exchange of prisoners in Yemen

A member of the Yemeni government delegation to the negotiations with the Houthis, Majid Fadael, announced today, Sunday, that A new round of negotiations It will be held after Eid al-Adha to agree on a new exchange of prisoners.

Proposals for the exchange of prisoners

Fadayel added on Twitter that the consultations that concluded today in the Jordanian capital with the Houthi delegation on the exchange of prisoners were positive, noting that several proposals for the exchange of prisoners were put forward with the Houthi delegation so that each party would submit these proposals to its leadership for approval.

He also made it clear that the government delegation is “very keen to launch all for all in accordance with the directives” of the leadership of the Presidency Council and the Yemeni government.

Ending the suffering of the abductees’ families

Fadael affirmed that the government delegation “will not spare any effort leading to ending the suffering of the families of the abductees and prisoners, and the return of all detainees in prisons and detention centers to their families as soon as possible.”

Since last Friday, the Jordanian capital, Amman, has witnessed talks between the two parties to the conflict in Yemen, under the auspices of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, with the aim of preparing for a future prisoner exchange.

Today, Sunday, media advisor to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the Middle East, Jessica Musan, said that the committee, along with the office of the United Nations envoy to Yemen, attended a meeting in Amman between the two parties to the conflict, “to address issues related to negotiations on a future release.”

“overcoming obstacles”

A source familiar with the negotiations, who asked not to be named, stated that the talks do not focus on the names of the potential prisoners to be released or arrangements for a future exchange process, but rather aim to “overcome the obstacles that prevent each party from conducting joint visits to its detainees at the other side, which paves the way for for a future release,” according to AFP.

On Friday, the office of the UN Special Envoy to Yemen announced that the Amman meeting “brings together the parties to the conflict to resume talks in order to release more detainees for reasons related to the conflict, in implementation of the Stockholm Agreement” concluded five years ago.

Stockholm agreement

At the time, the agreement stipulated “the release of all prisoners, detainees, missing persons, arbitrarily detained persons, victims of enforced disappearance, and persons under house arrest” in the context of the ongoing conflict since 2014 in Yemen, “without exception and without condition.”

It is noteworthy that the Yemeni government and the Houthis had reached, during negotiations held in Berne, Switzerland, last March, an agreement to exchange about 900 prisoners. Under this agreement, a major exchange took place last April, which lasted for three days.

Before that, the last major exchange took place in October 2020, when more than 1,050 prisoners were released and returned to their regions or countries, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.