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Yemen Rejects Houthi Attempts to Implement Swap Deal in Stages

UN envoy Martin Griffiths, to his right, head of the delegation of the Red Cross committee in Sanaa, when they attended talks between the government and Houthis in Amman last year. (Getty Images)
UN envoy Martin Griffiths, to his right, head of the delegation of the Red Cross committee in Sanaa, when they attended talks between the government and Houthis in Amman last year. (Getty Images)
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Yemen Rejects Houthi Attempts to Implement Swap Deal in Stages

UN envoy Martin Griffiths, to his right, head of the delegation of the Red Cross committee in Sanaa, when they attended talks between the government and Houthis in Amman last year. (Getty Images)
UN envoy Martin Griffiths, to his right, head of the delegation of the Red Cross committee in Sanaa, when they attended talks between the government and Houthis in Amman last year. (Getty Images)

The Yemeni legitimate government confirmed its commitment to the full implementation of the Amman Agreement on a prisoner exchange deal with the Iran-backed Houthi militias. The agreement, which Houthis are looking to implement in stages, stipulates the release of 1,420 people in its first phase.

Human rights deputy and negotiating member Majed Fadael, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, denied the government approved to divide the deal in phases.

The agreement was brokered in April after rounds of negotiations in the Jordanian capital, Amman, under the supervision of United Nations special envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths’ office.

“There are no new talks. We are only discussing what we had arrived to in the third round of talks in Amman and this involves the release of 1,420 detainees in the first stage, building up to the point where a total swap is implemented through others,” Fadael told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“We have exchanged name roasters, and the swap is still underway, but we are yet to finalize the agreement on all names. There is a sufficient number of names that have been approved though and we insist that the swap includes 1,420 detainees,” Fadael added.

He stressed that the names of those to be released include detainees linked to the Arab coalition, one of the four included named in a UN Security Council resolution, journalists and the elderly.

While the Yemeni official stressed the importance of expediting the implementation of the lists of names, he accused the Houthi group of intransigence and evasiveness towards the Amman Agreement.

Rival parties in the Yemen conflict are in talks on a "quite considerable" prisoner exchange deal, a senior official from the International Committee of the Red Cross has told AFP.

"Today, the parties are talking about a prisoner release that is quite considerable, but there is still a bit of agreement that has to be made on lists" and implementation, said Franz Rauchenstein, head of the ICRC delegation in Yemen.

He said the agency was working very closely with the two parties to strike a deal.

"We are very hopeful it might take place in a few days or weeks from now, and the ICRC would be ready of course to implement that logistically," Rauchenstein said in an interview at the weekend.

"But there are still a few agreements to finalize," he added.

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Arab World

Syria, Lebanon Pledge Firm Ties after Years of Tensions

Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati meet with Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria, January 11, 2025. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)
Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati meet with Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria, January 11, 2025. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)
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Syria, Lebanon Pledge Firm Ties after Years of Tensions

Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati meet with Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria, January 11, 2025. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)
Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati meet with Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria, January 11, 2025. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)

Syria's new ruler and Lebanon's prime minister pledged on Saturday to build lasting ties during the first visit by a Lebanese head of government to Damascus since the start of the civil war in 2011.  

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati's trip came after Islamist-led rebels seized Damascus last month, bringing an end to the rule of Bashar al-Assad.  

Previous Lebanese governments refrained from visits to Syria amid tensions at home over the Hezbollah group’s support for Assad during the conflict.

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said he hoped to turn over a new leaf in relations, days after crisis-hit Lebanon finally elected a president this week following two years of deadlock.

"There will be long-term strategic relations between us and Lebanon. We and Lebanon have great shared interests," said Sharaa.  

It was time to "give the Syrian and Lebanese people a chance to build a positive relationship", he said, adding that he hoped Joseph Aoun's presidency would usher in an era of stability in Lebanon.  

Sharaa said the new Syria would "stay at equal distance from all" in Lebanon, and "try to solve problems through negotiations and dialogue".  

Mikati said new ties should be based on "mutual respect, equality and national sovereignty".  

- Syrian refugees -  

Syria was the dominant power in Lebanon for three decades under the Assad family, with President Hafez al-Assad intervening in its 1975-1990 civil war and his son Bashar only withdrawing Syria's troops in 2005 following mass protests triggered by the assassination of Lebanese ex-prime minister Rafic Hariri, which was widely blamed on Damascus.

After mending ties with Damascus, his son Saad Hariri was the last Lebanese premier to visit the Syrian capital in 2010 before the civil war.  

Taking office on Thursday, Aoun swore he would seize the "historic opportunity to start serious... dialogue with the Syrian state".  

With Hezbollah weakened after two months of full-scale war with Israel late last year and Assad now gone, Syrian and Lebanese leaders seem eager to work to solve long-pending issues.  

Among them is the presence of some two million Syrian refugees that Lebanon says have sought shelter on its territory since the Syrian war started.  

Their return to Syria had become "an urgent matter in the interest of both countries", Mikati said.  

Lebanese authorities have for years complained that hosting so many Syrians has become a burden for the tiny Mediterranean country which has been wracked by the worst economic crisis in its history since 2019.  

Mikati also said it was a priority "to draw up the land and sea borders between Lebanon and Syria", calling for a joint committee to be set up to discuss the matter.  

Under Assad, Syria repeatedly refused to delimit its borders with its neighbor.  

Lebanon has been hoping to draw the maritime border so that it can begin offshore gas extraction after reaching a similar agreement with Israel in 2022.  

Mikati was accompanied on his visit by Lebanon's foreign minister Abdullah Bou Habib, the head of Lebanon's general security agency, which is responsible for border management, and the head of Lebanon's military intelligence.

- 'Smuggling' -  

The Lebanese premier said both sides had stressed the need for "complete control of (land) borders, especially over illicit border points, to stem smuggling".

Syria shares a 330-kilometer (205-mile) border with Syria with no official demarcation at several points, making it porous and prone to smuggling.  

Syria imposed new restrictions on the entry of Lebanese citizens last week, following what the Lebanese army said was a border skirmish with unnamed armed Syrians.  

Lebanese nationals had previously been allowed into Syria without a visa, using just their passport or ID card.  

A string of foreign dignitaries have headed to Damascus in recent weeks to meet the new leaders, with a delegation from Oman also in town earlier on Saturday.  

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani visited Damascus on Friday, while France's Jean-Noel Barrot and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock did last week.  

Shaibani has visited Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Jordan since the start of the month, and said Friday he would head to Europe soon.  

Syria's war has killed more than half a million people and ravaged the country's economy since starting in 2011 with the brutal crackdown of anti-Assad protests.