Yemeni official sources said representatives of the legitimate government and Iran-backed Houthi militias have received an invitation from the office of UN Special Envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, to hold a new meeting in the Jordanian capital, Amman, to complete discussions on the implementation of the second phase of the prisoner exchange agreement.
Undersecretary of Human Rights Ministry and a member of the team negotiating the prisoner swap, Majed Fadael accused the Houthis of seeking to avoid the implementation of the second phase of the Swiss agreement.
He added, however, that he was optimistic about the success of the meeting, which has been scheduled for Thursday.
“We agree to engage in a round of consultations to increase the number of prisoners, including the four included in the UN Security Council Resolution,” Fadael told Asharq Al-Awsat on Sunday.
The four prisoners are Nasser Mansour Hadi, brother of the Yemeni president, former Defense Minister Mahmoud Al-Sabhihi, Military Commander Faisal Rajab and al-Islah Party member Mohammed Qahtan.
“We are ready for this round and are fully prepared to carry out an inclusive swap deal on condition that the Houthis are committed to what they signed,” he said.
Fadael added that he was optimistic that the Amman meeting would produce a win-win outcome for both sides.
Meanwhile, chairman of the Houthi committee for prisoner affairs, Abdulqadir Al-Murtada confirmed the militias received an official invitation from the UN to attend the Jordan consultations.
He claimed that the militias are ready to implement the second part of the Amman agreement on prisoners that calls for swapping 200 Houthi prisoners in exchange of 100 legitimate government prisoners, including the brother of president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. He neglected to mention the three other Yemeni officials.
Murtada’s comments prompted criticism from the government. Fadael posted a tweet reminding the militias of their previous commitment during the recent Switzerland consultations.
“We would like to remind you of what has been signed in Montreux, Switzerland, in the third paragraph, which stipulates your commitment to release all prisoners and detainees, including the four prisoners covered in the UN Security Council resolution. Enough lies.”
Last month, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) completed a prisoner exchange deal of 1,061 captives, considered the largest between the Yemeni legitimate government and Houthi militias since the coup in late 2014.
The exchange is the result of negotiations that took place over the last few months in Switzerland under UN sponsorship and based on the Stockholm Agreement, a deal signed between the Yemeni government and Houthis in 2018.
