Government delegation accuses Houthis of sabotaging Muscat negotiations: “They do not value prisoners”
Yemen Monitor/News Room
The government delegation negotiating on the file of abductees accused the Houthi armed group of sabotaging the prisoner and abductee exchange operation in this round that took place in the Omani capital, Muscat, and lasted for seven days.
This came in a statement issued by Majed Fadhil, spokesman for the government team negotiating on the file of prisoners and abductees, which he published on “X” platform.
“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 Fadhil, who is a member of the negotiating team and Deputy Minister of Human Rights.
He added: “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).”
Fadhil accused “the Houthi militia of working to sabotage 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 problem of politician Muhammad Qahtan and exchanging some of the prisoner lists.
“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 the lists paper of the prisoners and adoption of the lists until the next round is held,” al-Murtada added in a statement.
On Wednesday, the legitimate Yemeni government and the Houthi group agreed to exchange prominent politician Muhammad Qahtan for 50 Houthi prisoners.
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.
