Yemeni Conflicting Sides Start Prisoner Swap Talks In Switzerland - UN Envoy

Yemeni Conflicting Sides Start Prisoner Swap Talks in Switzerland - UN Envoy

The sides to the Yemeni conflict gathered in Switzerland on Friday for another meeting on a prisoner release, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths said

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th September, 2020) The sides to the Yemeni conflict gathered in Switzerland on Friday for another meeting on a prisoner release, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths said.

"The #Yemen Prisoners & Detainees Committee meeting started today. I am grateful to #Switzerland for hosting it & to @ICRC for co-chairing. My message to the Parties is: conclude discussions, release detainees swiftly, bring relief to thousands of Yemeni families," Griffiths said, as quoted by his office on Twitter.

According to media reports, the talks are expected to focus on the release of 1,420 people.

For over five years, Yemen has been engulfed in an armed conflict between the government forces, led by President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, and the Houthi movement. In December 2018, the warring parties signed a UN-backed agreement in Sweden. The sides agreed to a ceasefire in the port of Al Hudaydah, an exchange of prisoners and establishment of humanitarian corridors in the area.