Yemeni government accuses Houthi rebels of evading responsibilities on prisoners deal

By Shukri Hussein

SANAA, Yemen (AA) - The Yemeni government on Saturday accused Houthis of evading their obligations regarding the prisoners deal.

In a statement, Yahya Kazman, the head of the government negotiation committee, said that “the Houthi militia is evading the implementation of its obligations in the prisoners issue.”

Kazman said that the Houthis “kidnap citizens from their homes, workplaces, universities and roads to use them as a means of political pressure and blackmail.”

“The first steps in solving this issue begins with the militias revealing the fate of the kidnapped people,” he added.

On Friday evening, the Yemeni Houthi group announced the release of 100 prisoners in a humanitarian initiative.

Both the legitimate government and the Houthi rebels had previously carried out several prisoner exchange deals through local and international efforts.

During UN-sponsored consultations in Sweden in 2018, the parties submitted lists containing the names of more than 15,000 prisoners, detainees and abductees.

There is no accurate count of the number of prisoners held by both sides, especially as more individuals have since been captured.

In March 2023, the Yemeni government and the Houthis agreed to release 887 prisoners and detainees from both sides after consultations in Switzerland.

In April 2023, the legitimate government announced the completion of the first batch of a prisoner exchange process with the Houthis, involving around 900 prisoners from both sides.

Yemen has been suffering from a war that began after the Houthis took control of the capital, Sana'a, and several provinces in late 2014.

The conflict intensified in March 2015 when a Saudi-led Arab military coalition intervened to support legitimate government forces against the Iran-backed Houthi group.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi