The Yemeni government accuses the Houthis of blocking prisoner exchange agreements

The Yemeni government Friday accused the Houthi group of not being serious and obstructing the implementation of agreements and efforts to exchange prisoners.

Majed Fadail, Undersecretary of the Yemeni Ministry of Human Rights, a member of the Prisoners and Prisoners Negotiation Committee, told Saba that the Houthi militias meet efforts seriously and intransigently and flimsy arguments and evade the implementation of the exchange process, hitting all appeals and calls for its implementation by wall, in light of the threat of an outbreak of the Corona virus, as he put it.

He accused the member of the Houthi negotiating committee of placing obstacles and demanding fake names in order to disable the file and exploit it politically and medialy away from any dissolution of humanity.

He demanded the virtues of the UN envoy's office to press the Houthis to immediately release all prisoners and detainees, according to the UN Security Council resolution.

On Friday, the head of the Houthi Revolutionary Committee, Muhammad Ali al-Houthi, said they were present to begin a prisoner exchange in the coming days on everything that was agreed upon in Jordan under UN auspices.

On March 20, the UN envoy Martin Griffiths called on the parties to the conflict in Yemen to accelerate the release of prisoners because of the risks of the Coronavirus.

The number of detainees and prisoners is not known to all Yemeni parties, but on December 13, 2018, after consultations in Sweden, the government and the Houthis reached an agreement regarding the solution of the situation in the coastal province of Hodeidah (West), in addition to the exchange of prisoners and detainees on both sides, who are increasing in number Over 15 thousand.

The government handed over lists of 8,567 names to the UN envoy, while the Houthis submitted lists of 7,000 prisoners, but the implementation of the agreement faces obstacles due to the discrepancy between the signatories on the interpretation of a number of its provisions.

As of Friday, Yemen - whether in the areas of the Yemeni government or under the control of the Houthis - had not announced any infection with the Corona virus, in light of fears that it would spread in the country where the health situation is deteriorating sharply due to the war that entered its sixth year.