Local Editor
The International Red Cross is preparing for a prisoner swap to move hundreds of detainees held by Houthi revolutionaries and the resigned Yemeni regime, according to a statement released by the agency on Wednesday.
The prisoner swap will include two aircrafts that will have a total capacity of 400.
“We are preparing to provide medical assistance to detainees in need, and two planes, each with a capacity of 200 passengers, to shuttle detainees between Sana’a and Sayoun,” Fabrizio Carboni, the regional director for the Near and Middle East for the ICRC said in a statement seen by The National.
Sana’a is the capital of Yemen controlled by the popular Houthi Ansarullah movement after the former Yemeni president Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi fled to Saudi Arabia in 2015. Sayoun is a Hadi-held city in the Hadhramaut region of central Yemen.
Yemen’s warring sides exchanged lists of prisoners they want released in a confidence building measure aimed at advancing peace during talks in Sweden last month. They are still negotiating over the final list of names of prisoners they want to be released.
The ICRC said it was aware of the difficulties of negotiating such a swap but the organization called for a continued effort made by both parties to finalize the names of prisoners as soon as possible.
“Whilst these preparations are crucial for the success of the operation, they are meaningless efforts without the parties finalizing the lists of detainees," Mr Carboni said.
The ICRC will have 15 delegates dedicated to the operation to hold detainees in one location before they are transported to the airport. They did not specify if they would hold prisoners from both sides together or in separate.
Hopes for a large-scale prisoner swap have dwindled after three days of talks in Jordan failed with both sides accusing each other of a lack of faith.
The swap could involve up to 15,000 people from both sides.
"The latest meeting of the Supervisory Committee in Amman allowed for further discussion on the exchanged lists of detainees, a process we hope sees progress in the coming days," Mr Carboni stressed.
The planned release will bring comfort to thousands of families who lost contact with or have been separated from their loved ones due to the conflict, he said.
The warring sides must submit written remarks on the lists provided, respond and sign the final versions before handing them to the United Nations and the Red Cross, who would oversee the exchange.
“We are at the final stage but there are still some gaps that need to be filled,” Haid Haig, the head of the resigned regime’s prisoner committee said.
The United Nations has been pushing for the swap and a peace deal in the main port city of Hodeida to pave the way for a second round of talks aimed at tending the nearly four-year war that has killed tens of thousands of people.
“This is a crucial moment for Yemen and we must not let this opportunity slip away,” Mr Carboni said.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
