Yemen warring sides kick-start prisoner swap talks in Jordan: UN
Fresh talks between delegations from Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement and Saudi-backed former government have begun over exchange of hundreds of more prisoners, as part of steps taken to revive stalled UN-brokered peace negotiations, the United Nations says.
Ismini Palla, spokeswoman of the office of UN special envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, said on Sunday that he had opened talks between Ansarullah officials and representatives from administration of Saudi-allied former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, in Jordan.
"The meetings started on Sunday morning," she added.
A UN-chartered plane carried four officials of Ansarullah officials from Sana'a to the Jordanian capital Amman on Saturday. The Saudi-backed administration also sent four representatives.
Sources familiar with the matter said that the latest talks aim to free 300 prisoners, including high-ranking figures like the brother of Mansour Hadi.
The UN-brokered talks between Sanaa-based Yemeni revolutionaries and Saudi-backed exiled government officials over prisoner exchange have failed, the office of UN Yemen Envoy Martin Griffiths said.
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