US Ambassador Welcomes Intra-Yemeni Prisoner Swap Deal, Hopes for More Progress in Talks
US Ambassador to Yemen Matthew Tueller welcomed Thursday in his comments to Sputnik the signing of an agreement on prisoner exchange between the Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels and stated that progress could be achieved on other issues as well.
Earlier in the day, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths announced that the Yemeni government delegation and the Houthi rebels, who are currently holding talks in Sweden, had signed an agreement on prisoner exchange.
"I welcome that there has been a start already with evidence that the two sides are able to reach an agreement on points, and, if they reached an agreement on the issue of prisoner releases, then there is no reason not to see further progress .
.. The differences between the two sides obviously are great, there are a number of issues that will have to be discussed here and I welcome the UN envoy's intentions to put all of these issues on the table," Tueller said.
Yemen has been engulfed in an armed conflict between the government forces led by President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and the Houthi rebels for several years. The Saudi-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request since March 2015.
The previous round of the Yemeni talks, which was scheduled for September in Geneva, broke down since the Houthis failed to arrive in Switzerland, citing the absence of assurances guaranteeing their free and safe return to Yemen.