Yemen Monitor/News Room
The Yemeni government and the Houthis announced on Saturday evening the conclusion of the first round of negotiations on the exchange of prisoners and abductees, which was held in the Omani capital, Muscat, and lasted for seven days.
“We concluded today (Saturday) the ninth round of consultations on prisoners and detainees, which were hosted by the Omani capital, Muscat, in recent days,” said Majed Fadhil, spokesman for the government team negotiating on the file of prisoners and abductees, in a statement published on X.
“The consultations achieved some important breakthroughs in the file of abductees and forcibly disappeared persons, so that a complementary round will be held in the next two months, preceded by an exchange of lists of detainees and abductees and convergence on them under the auspices of the office of the UN envoy to Yemen (Hans Grundberg),” he added.
Fadhil accused “the Houthi militia of working to thwart any exchange in this round, as they do not value prisoners and their families,” he said.
Earlier on Saturday, Abdul Qader al-Murtada, the Houthi group’s official in charge of the prisoner file, announced the completion of Muscat consultations after agreeing on some points, the most important of which is resolving the issue of politician Muhammad Qahtan and exchanging some prisoners.
“Due to the lack of time, it was agreed to resume negotiations after two months, so that the two parties will focus their attention during this period on completing and adopting the lists of prisoners until the next round is held,” al-Murtada added in a statement.
On Wednesday, the government delegation and the Houthi group agreed to exchange prominent politician Muhammad Qahtan for 50 Houthi prisoners, in a deal that sparked a lot of controversy among the factions of the legitimate government and the components that support it.
Last Sunday, consultations on prisoner exchange between the Yemeni government and the Houthis began in the Omani capital, Muscat, under the auspices of the United Nations.
