Abdul Qadir al-Mortaza, the head of the National Committee for Prisoners Affairs of the Houthi militia, has announced that 13 prisoners have arrived at Sana'a International Airport.
Al-Murtaza said in a tweet that "13 prisoners and detainees released by the Saudi authorities have arrived at Sana'a International Airport today. One Saudi prisoner was already released in return." He expressed hope that the move would be a precursor to the implementation of an agreement reached later this week, ahead of a wider prisoner exchange between the two sides.
Peace talks
According to AFP, official Yemeni sources said that an Omani delegation, on the other hand, has begun a visit to Sana'a to hold talks with the Iranian-backed Houthi militia as part of mediation. The aim of the talks is to reach a new ceasefire in Yemen and restore the peace process after the Saudi-Iranian reconciliation.
United Nations officials and Yemeni affairs experts believe that Saudi Arabia and Iran are likely to resume diplomatic relations after the agreement between Riyadh and Tehran, in the light of reaching a political solution in Yemen, the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula. A possibility has also arisen.
The airport of Sana'a is under the control of the Houthis. Official sources at the airport said that an Omani delegation, accompanied by the Houthis' official spokesman, Mohammad Abdul Salam, had arrived in Sana'a to discuss a new ceasefire. Abdus Salam, based in Oman, said through a tweet on Twitter that he and the brother Omani delegation have reached the capital Sana'a. He said that our legitimate demands are withdrawal of foreign forces from Yemen, compensation and reconstruction. Keep in mind that the war in Yemen since 2014 has killed hundreds of thousands of people directly and indirectly, and most of the population is now dependent on aid to survive.
Since 2014, Saudi Arabia has led a legitimate coalition in Yemen and backs the internationally recognized government. Iran supports the Houthi militia. The militia took control of the capital in 2014.
According to Yemeni government sources, the members of the Yemeni Presidential Council have finally agreed on the Saudi vision regarding the resolution of the Yemeni crisis after two months of Saudi-Houthi talks under Omani patronage in Muscat.
According to the sources, the Saudi idea is based on agreeing on a ceasefire for a period of six months in the first phase to build confidence. According to the Saudi idea, after the agreement on the ceasefire, a period of negotiations should be kept for three months to manage the transitional phase. This interim government should be established in Yemen for two years. A final solution will be negotiated between all parties. In the first phase, confidence building measures should be taken. These measures include paying the salaries of civil servants in all areas, including the most important Houthi-controlled areas, and opening closed roads and the airport.
On Wednesday, the US special envoy for Yemen, Timothy Lenderking, urged the Iranians to demonstrate that they are indeed making a positive change in the conflict and stop smuggling arms to the Houthis in violation of UN Security Council resolutions. Will be.
It should be remembered that last month, the Houthis and the Yemeni government announced that during the negotiations in Bern, they had reached an agreement to exchange more than 880 prisoners. The agreement is a new sign of accelerating efforts to end the war.
