عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Yemen's Warring Sides Resume Prisoner Swap Consultations in Jordan

A general view of Amman, Jordan, January 4, 2019. (Reuters)
A general view of Amman, Jordan, January 4, 2019. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Yemen's Warring Sides Resume Prisoner Swap Consultations in Jordan

A general view of Amman, Jordan, January 4, 2019. (Reuters)
A general view of Amman, Jordan, January 4, 2019. (Reuters)

A new round of consultations over a prisoner swap between the legitimate Yemeni government and Iran-backed Houthi militias kicked off in the Jordanian capital, Amman, on Sunday.

The meeting comes days after the United States designated the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization. The Yemeni government welcomed the move, saying it was a step in the right direction in working with the Houthis towards peace.

A UN-chartered plane carried four Houthi officials from Sanaa to Amman on Saturday. The government also sent four representatives, according to Mohammad Fadayel, the head of the government's prisoners committee.

The talks aim to free 300 prisoners, including high-ranking officials like the brother of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

“The meetings started on Sunday morning,” Ismini Palla, spokeswoman of the office of UN special envoy Martin Griffiths, told Reuters, adding that he had opened the talks.

The talks are part of confidence-building measures aimed at restarting peace negotiations last held in Sweden in December 2018, when the two parties agreed to exchange 15,000 detainees.

In October, the government and Houthis carried out the largest prisoner exchange since the militias’ coup in 2014.

Griffiths, in a statement on Sunday, urged the parties to discuss and agree on names “beyond the Amman meeting lists to fulfill their Stockholm commitment of releasing all conflict-related detainees as soon as possible.”

The administration of new US President Joe Biden said on Friday it has initiated a review of the designation, which went into effect on Jan. 19 ahead of Joe Biden entering the White House.

Ahead of the talks, informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the conditions as “positive so far.”

The Houthis' chief negotiator has told Reuters the group would not walk away from talks.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

MSF Suspends Operations at Key Hospital in Sudan's Capital

FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
TT
TT

MSF Suspends Operations at Key Hospital in Sudan's Capital

FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)

Medical aid agency MSF said on Friday it has been forced to suspend its activities at one of the few remaining hospitals in southern Khartoum due to repeated attacks, cutting off yet another lifeline for those who remain in the Sudanese capital.
War has been raging in Sudan since April 2023, sparked by a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, triggering the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis.
The hospital, which lies in territory controlled by the RSF, helped treat the victims of frequent airstrikes by the Sudanese Armed Forces, as well as hundreds of malnourished women and children in an area where two neighborhoods have been judged at risk of famine, reported Reuters.
"In the 20 months MSF teams have worked alongside hospital staff and volunteers, Bashair Hospital has experienced repeated incidents of armed fighters entering the hospital with weapons and threatening medical staff, often demanding fighters be treated before other patients," MSF said in a statement.
"Despite extensive engagements with all stakeholders, these attacks have continued in recent months. MSF has now taken the very difficult decision to suspend all medical activities in the hospital."
The fighting in Sudan has cut off up to 80% of hospitals in conflict areas, where millions who cannot afford to escape the violence remain. Civilians face frequent air and artillery fire and hunger as supplies are blocked by both warring parties and prices skyrocket.
Medical facilities, including MSF-supported ones that have suspended operations, have frequently come under attack by RSF soldiers demanding treatment or looting supplies. Bashair Hospital has served more than 25,000 people, MSF said, including 9,000 hurt by blasts, gunshot wounds, and other violence.
"Sometimes dozens of people arrived at the hospital at the same time after shelling or airstrikes on residential areas and markets," MSF said in the statement, citing an incident on Sunday where an airstrike one kilometer away drove 50 people to the emergency room, 12 of them already dead.