The Yemeni government announced the successful completion of the first stage of the Detainees’ Exchange Agreement with the Houthi militias under which a total of 890 detainees have been freed.

Some 180 detainees mainly belonging to the government and 710 Houthi militants have been freed over the last three days under the supervision of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Yemen Hans Grundberg, a press release from the government said on Sunday.

The freed detainees included ex-minister of defense Maj.-Gen. Mahmoud Al-Subeihi and Maj.-Gen. Nasser Mansour Hadi – the brother of the former president Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.

The former detainees also included four journalists who had been sentenced to death by the Houthis, 16 Saudi soldiers and three Sudanese soldiers, it said.

The swap was backed by the Saudi-led coalition to support legitimacy in Yemen and the Supervisory Committee on the Detainees’ Exchange Agreement co-chaired by the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen (OSESGY) and the ICRC.

The government reassured families of the remaining detainees that it will continue working for their release as early as possible.

The first stage of the Agreement started following the seventh meeting of the Supervisory Committee in Switzerland on March 10-20, 2023.

Source: Kuwait News Agency