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On Monday, 30 September, Houthi rebels in Yemen released 290 prisoners, including 42 survivors of a Saudi-led air attack on a detention center, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a statement. communicated.
UN envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths , hailed the rebel initiative, which is part of an agreement reached in Sweden in December 2018, and called on " all parties to ensure the return in full security of released detainees in their homes ".
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" I hope this step will lead to more initiatives that will facilitate the exchange of all prisoners [...] in accordance with the agreement " of Sweden , he added. The insurgents said on Sunday (September 29th) that they had captured more than 1,000 pro-government fighters in a major offensive in August in their northern Saada stronghold, but they are not among the released prisoners on Monday. September 30th.
" A positive step "
In its statement, the ICRC welcomed " a positive step " that will boost the implementation of the Swedish agreement. This UN-brokered deal includes a truce in Hodeida, a strategic port city in western Yemen, a prisoner exchange and de-escalation around Taez town in the south-west. .
The prisoner exchange component has so far not been implemented, despite government-rebel meetings and the development of a list of thousands of detainees. Shortly before the ICRC's announcement, Abdel Kader Mortaza, a Houthi official, told a press conference in Sanaa that he had presented at the United Nations " a unilateral initiative to release 350 prisoners, including 3 Saudis ".
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The ICRC said it had facilitated the transfer between April and August 2019 of 31 minors previously held in Saudi Arabia to Sanaa, where they were reunited with their families.
(with AFP)