Yemen combatants start talks in Jordan on prisoner swap deal

Record ID: 1372638

  • Title: Yemen combatants start talks in Jordan on prisoner swap deal
  • Date: 17th January 2019
  • Summary: AMMAN, JORDAN (JANUARY 17, 2019) (REUTERS) DELEGATIONS FROM HOUTHI MOVEMENT AND YEMENI GOVERNMENT ATTENDING MEETING VARIOUS OF HADI HAIG, THE HEAD OF THE YEMENI GOVERNMENT DELEGATION YEMENI GOVERNMENT MEMBER INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS MEMBERS SITTING AND LOOKING ON YEMENI GOVERNMENT MEMBER VARIOUS OF ABDUL QADER MURTADA, HEAD OF THE HOUTHI DELEGATION, AND MEM
  • Embargoed: 31st January 2019 09:39
  • Keywords: U.N.-led peace efforts Amman Jordan Iran-aligned Houthi movement Saudi-backed Yemeni government Hadi Haig Abdul Qader Murtada
  • Location: AMMAN, JORDAN
  • City: AMMAN, JORDAN
  • Country: Jordan
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
  • Reuters ID: LVA0019XJ69FR
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Yemen's warring sides met for a second day of talks in Amman on Thursday (January 17) over how to implement a prisoner exchange that will allow thousands of families to be reunited as part of U.N.-led peace efforts, U.N. officials and delegates said.
    Delegates from the Iran-aligned Houthi movement and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government met in the Jordanian capital to discuss the swap, which was agreed in U.N.-led talks in Sweden in December.
    Western nations, some of which supply arms and intelligence to a Saudi-led coalition backing the government, have pressed the two sides to agree confidence-building steps to pave the way for a wider truce and a political process to end the war, which has killed tens of thousands of people.
    As part of that effort, the two sides exchanged lists of some 15,000 prisoners for a swap that delegates said would be conducted via the Houthi-held Sanaa airport in north Yemen and the government-held Sayun airport in the south.
    Hadi Haig, the head of the Yemen government delegation, said the two sides were verifying the prisoner lists as part of a five-stage process before the swap takes place.
    The swap would be overseen by the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The operation will require the Saudi-led coalition to guarantee that air space is secure for flights, the ICRC said.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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