Over a thousand prisoners to be exchanged in Yemen

TT

Published 21.03

Former prisoners celebrate after the largest prisoner exchange so far during the war, in 2020. Photo: Hani Mohammed/AP/TT

Nearly 1,700 prisoners are to be handed over between the parties to the war in Yemen.

The country's internationally recognized government has reached an agreement with the Iran-backed Houthi movement on the prisoner exchange, the largest so far since the outbreak of the war in 2014.

The agreement was signed in Jordan after 14 weeks of negotiations, and is based on the agreement that was reached just before Christmas last year. At that time, it was said that nearly 3,000 prisoners would be exchanged, but now it will be just over half that number – if Thursday's agreement is followed.

Around 1,100 Houthis are to be released, while they themselves are releasing around 600 prisoners as well as “a number of politicians and media representatives,” according to Houthi spokesman Abdelkader al-Murtada.

It is not clear when the exchange will take place.