عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Griffiths Urges Swift Release of Detainees at Yemeni Prisoner Swap Talks

UN Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths- Reuters
UN Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths- Reuters
TT
TT

Griffiths Urges Swift Release of Detainees at Yemeni Prisoner Swap Talks

UN Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths- Reuters
UN Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths- Reuters

Yemeni warring parties have launched prisoner swap talks in Geneva with Iran-backed Houthis including their self-proclaimed Central Bank Governor Hashim Ismail Ali Ahmed as part of their negotiating delegation.

Delegates from Yemen’s internationally recognized government sat down in Geneva with their rivals for talks co-chaired by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). But Ahmed’s presence at the talks spurred controversy among attendees.

Well-informed sources tied the Sanaa-based governor’s attendance to the ongoing financial crisis Houthis are experiencing. Yemeni activists and researchers have cast many doubts over Ahmed accompanying the Houthi delegation.

“It is really strange for a Houthi leader who is posed as a central bank governor to partake in this type of conversation that is far from economic,” Yemeni writer and political analyst Hamdan al-Alyi told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Alyi explained that Ahmed’s presence at the talks is evidence to claims that Houthis are looking to exploit the UN and international organizations to carry out their personal political and economic agendas.

He also said it is an attempt by Houthis to break out of their isolation and get rid of their labeling as coupists by the international community.

UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths, for his part, tweeted his hopes for the Yemeni parties to "release detainees swiftly" and "bring relief to thousands of Yemeni families."

Yemeni political analyst Lutfi Nomaan, in statements to Asharq Al-Awsat, confirmed that resuming prisoner swap talks is a positive indicator for implementing an agreement that was put on ice due to the coronavirus.

“There is no doubt that moving this humanitarian issue sends a positive sign in the implementation of an agreement that was postponed after a long interruption imposed by the pandemic,” Nomaan said.

A deal to trade 15,000 prisoners was considered a breakthrough during 2018 peace talks in Sweden. The negotiations produced a sequence of confidence-building measures, including a cease-fire in the strategic port city of Hodeidah. But ongoing military offensives across the country and deep-seated mutual distrust has repeatedly delayed the exchange.

Yara Khawaja, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Yemen, said she welcomed the negotiations “for the sake of the families waiting for loved ones to return home.”

“It’s in the hands of the parties to the conflict to bring long-lasting positive change,” she added.

The office of the UN envoy said it was unclear how long the Geneva talks would take.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Israel’s Retaliatory Responses to Houthis Must Begin by Drawing Intelligence Plan

A person inspects damage at the site where a projectile fired from Yemen landed in Tel Aviv on December 21, 2024 (EPA)
A person inspects damage at the site where a projectile fired from Yemen landed in Tel Aviv on December 21, 2024 (EPA)
TT
TT

Israel’s Retaliatory Responses to Houthis Must Begin by Drawing Intelligence Plan

A person inspects damage at the site where a projectile fired from Yemen landed in Tel Aviv on December 21, 2024 (EPA)
A person inspects damage at the site where a projectile fired from Yemen landed in Tel Aviv on December 21, 2024 (EPA)

Israel is considering options to respond to repeated attacks fired from Yemen in the past few days, the latest of which was a Houthi missile strike that injured more than a dozen people in Tel Aviv.
But military experts say Israel should first consider an intelligence plan for confronting the new front after it faced significant difficulties in both defending against and responding to the Houthi attacks.
On Saturday morning, Houthis launched a missile that triggered sirens throughout central Israel at 3:44 am. It was the second attack since Thursday.
Israel's military said the projectile landed in Tel Aviv's southern Jaffa area, adding that attempts to intercept a missile from Yemen failed.
“The incident is still being thoroughly investigated,” the army said, adding that following initial investigations by the Israeli Air Force and Home Front Command, “some of the conclusions have already been implemented, both regarding interception and early warning.”
Israeli military experts say the recent Houthi attacks have revealed serious security gaps in Israel's air defense systems.
“The pressing question now is why none of the other of Israel’s air defense layers managed to intercept the warhead,” wrote Yedioth Ahronoth's Ron Ben-Yishai. “The likely explanation is the late detection and the flat trajectory, which prevented the operation of all available defense apparatus.”
He said these incidents might expose a critical vulnerability in the army’s air defense system protecting Israel’s civilian and military home front.
According to Ben-Yishai, two main reasons might explain Saturday’s interception failure.
The first is that the missile was launched in a “flattened” ballistic trajectory, possibly from an unexpected direction.
As a result, Israeli defenses may not have identified it in time, leading to its late discovery and insufficient time for interceptors to operate.
He said the second, and more likely scenario is that Iran has developed a maneuverable warhead.
Such a warhead separates from the missile during the final third of its trajectory and maneuvers mid-flight—executing pre-programmed course changes—to hit its designated target, he wrote.
And while Israel has launched initial investigations into the failure of Israeli defense systems to intercept the missiles, it is now examining the nature, date and location of its response.
When Houthis launched their first missile attack on Israel last Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned them, saying, “The Houthis will learn the hard way.”
But Israeli political analyst Avi Ashkenazi wrote in the Maariv newspaper that Israel should look at reality with open eyes and say out loud that it cannot deal with the Houthi threat from Yemen, and has failed to face them.
Last Thursday, 14 Israeli Air Force fighter jets, alongside refuelers and spy planes, flew some 2,000 kilometers and dropped over 60 munitions on Houthi “military targets” along Yemen’s western coast and near the capital Sanaa.
The targets included fuel and oil depots, two power stations, and eight tugboats used at the Houthi-controlled ports.
But the Maariv newspaper warned about the increasing involvement of Iran in supporting the Houthi forces.
“Iran has invested more in the Houthis in recent weeks following the collapse of the Shiite axis, making the Houthi movement a leader of this axis,” the newspaper noted.
Underscoring the failures of Israel’s air defense systems, Maariv said the “Arrow” missile defense system, Israel's main line of defense against ballistic missiles, had failed four times in a row to intercept missiles, including three launched from Yemen and one from Lebanon.
Yedioth Ahronoth's Ben-Yishai also warned that the threat posed by maneuvering warheads on Iran's heavy, long-range missiles would become existential for Israel should Iran succeed in developing nuclear warheads for these missiles.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Channel 12 said that in recent months, the Middle East has changed beyond recognition.
The channel said that for the first time in more than half a century, a direct and threat-free air corridor has been opened to Iran through the Middle East. Israel will benefit from this corridor to launch almost daily attacks on the border crossings between Syria and Lebanon, it said.
Channel 12 also reported that according to the Israeli military, the new threat-free corridor will help Israel launch a future attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.
“From Israel's perspective, the fall of the Assad regime and the collapse of the Iranian ring of fire are changing the balance of power in the Middle East,” the report added.