ADEN, Yemen, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's internationally recognized government and the Houthi group have reaffirmed their commitment to a UN-brokered prisoner release agreement, the UN special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said on Saturday, following the collapse of a planned exchange.
In a statement on social media platform X, the Office of the UN Special Envoy for Yemen said that Grundberg had received "renewed assurances" from both sides over the past 48 hours to implement the May agreement to release more than 1,600 conflict-related detainees.
He urged both sides to intensify efforts to complete "as soon as possible the outstanding technical and operational preparations" for the exchange.
The renewed commitments came after a prisoner exchange scheduled for Saturday failed to take place. On Friday, the two sides traded accusations over the failure, with the government claiming it had completed all necessary procedures while blaming the Houthis for indefinite postponement. The Houthis, in turn, said they were fully prepared but accused the government of failing to meet its obligations.
A military source aligned with government forces told Xinhua that armed tribal protests in the southern port city of Aden against the planned release of Houthi detainees accused of terrorism-related offenses, including assassinations of senior military commanders, also contributed to the delay.
Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene the following year in support of the internationally recognized government.
A UN-mediated truce between the Yemeni government and the Houthis, brokered in April 2022, lasted six months before expiring, though a de facto ceasefire has largely held despite sporadic clashes.
The last major UN-mediated prisoner exchange saw around 900 detainees freed in 2023. ■
