Yemen warring sides set January 20 for prisoner swap

Rimbo (Sweden) - The Houthis provided a list of 7,487 captives and detainees.

Delegations from Yemen's warring sides have agreed on Tuesday to set January 20 as a final date to swap over 15,000 prisoners from both sides of the country's devastating civil war, according to a member of the rebel delegation.  The internationally recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and Iran-backed Houthi rebels said that they have exchanged prisoner lists, allowing four weeks for review, ahead of a final swap to be facilitated by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The move is a crucial step in the implementation of an agreement reached earlier this month on the exchange of all prisoners held by both sides over the four-year civil war.  The government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition, said it has provided UN mediators with an initial list of 8,200 prisoners allegedly held by the Houthis.  The government list included members of the family of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was killed by the Houthis in December of last year. It also included more than 300 children and 88 women.  The rebel delegation also said it has provided its own list of prisoners held by government forces.
"The Houthis provided a list of 7,487 captives and detainees. We provided a (list) of 8,576 detainees," said Askar Zouail of the government delegation. "But the number of detainees (held by the rebels) exceeds 18,000 detainees since the beginning of the war (in March 2015)."