U.N. Envoy States Yemen Prisoner Swap Could Facilitate Peace Process, According to Reuters

By Suleiman Al-Khalidi

AMMAN – A U.N. special envoy conveyed to Yemen’s conflicting parties on Tuesday that promptly carrying out a prisoner swap agreement could facilitate progress toward a political resolution of the nearly four-year-old conflict.

The envoy, Martin Griffiths, mentioned that finalizing a list of the thousands of prisoners should be accomplished by the end of three days of discussions in Amman, involving representatives from the Saudi-supported government and the Iranian-aligned Houthi movement.

This finalized list is to be submitted to the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

“It will lay the foundation for the next step, which is to ensure the release occurs,” Griffiths remarked to delegates prior to the commencement of the second round of talks in Amman within a month.

Griffiths emphasized the significance of the swap deal in making strides toward ending a conflict that has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and left around 15.9 million people facing severe hunger.

“Success in this area is crucial not only for those who will be released but also for the broader political process, in which we hope the parties will work together to resolve their differences and restore peace in Yemen,” he stated.

During his address, the new head of the U.N. mission overseeing a fragile ceasefire in Yemen, Danish Major General Michael Anker Lollesgaard, arrived in the port city of Hodeidah.

Progress on implementing the ceasefire deal, which was agreed upon in Sweden last December, has stalled due to disagreements over control of the port — a vital lifeline for millions of Yemenis — and the city after a planned military redeployment.

The prisoner swap has emerged as one of the less contentious confidence-building measures discussed during the peace talks in Sweden.

The negotiations in Amman will confirm the identities of approximately 15,000 prisoners to be exchanged by both sides, including individuals from Saudi Arabia and other nations fighting for the government.

Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, stated that implementing the deal might take weeks and could include the repatriation of third-country nationals.

“Trust doesn’t develop overnight. It’s a challenging process, and we recognize that this is a work in progress,” Maurer noted at the onset of the Amman discussions.

The ongoing conflict is largely viewed as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran and has been trapped in a military stalemate for several years. A coalition of Sunni Muslim Arab nations led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates entered Yemen in 2015 to reinstate the government of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, which had been ousted from the capital, Sanaa, by the Houthis in late 2014.

The Houthis currently dominate most urban areas in the impoverished nation of Yemen, while Hadi’s government maintains control over the southern port of Aden and several coastal towns.