Representatives of Yemen’s government and Iran-backed Houthi rebels kicked off talks in Geneva on Saturday for an exchange of prisoners, with the UN urging both sides to engage in “serious” discussions.
The new round of closed-door negotiations amid years of civil war are being overseen by the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross. “I hope the parties are ready to engage in serious and forthcoming discussions to agree on releasing as many detainees as possible,” UN special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said in a statement.
The talks, reportedly set to last 11 days, mark the seventh meeting aimed at implementing an agreement on prisoner exchanges reached in Stockholm five years ago, the UN said.
Under that deal, the sides agreed “to release all prisoners, detainees, missing persons, arbitrarily detained and forcibly disappeared persons, and those under house arrest”, held in connection with Yemen’s nearly decade-long conflict, “without any exceptions or conditions”.
The ICRC noted in a statement that past meetings mediated by Grundberg’s office had “resulted in the release of prisoners on both sides”.
“In 2020, more than 1,050 detainees were re-leased and provided with transportation to their region of origin or home country following an agreement reached by the sides,” it said.—APP
