Yemen talks on prisoners continue in Geneva

Debriefer
2020-09-21 | Since 2 Week

Geneva talks between Yemeni parties continue for a third day without progress

GENEVA (Debriefer)--UN-sponsored talks on prisoners between the Yemeni government and the Houthi group have continued in the Swiss town of Montreux.

The Houthi-run Almasirah TV on Sunday quoted a source familiar with the talks as saying the government negotiators submitted a list of fake and unknown prisoners and that the Houthi delegation submitted its notes on the initial lists of prisoners provided by the government delegation.

The coming hours will be decisive, the source said, without giving more details.

The two delegations were expected to present the final lists of prisoners on Sunday. They were given 24 hours to review and submit the lists and deliver their notes before starting discussions on an executive plan to exchange prisoners, the source said. The plan will be overseen by the UN and the ICRC.

Around 900 Houthi and 520 government prisoners would be swapped. They include brother of president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, Lt. Gen. Nasser Mansur Hadi.

On the two first days, the two sides discussed the outcomes of consultations on the issue which took place earlier this year in Jordan. They reviewed the initial lists of prisoners to be released and prisoners who have been released through tribal and local mediation.

On Saturday, the two sides met on the sidelines of the talks and discussed the issues of the decaying Safer oil tanker and the salaries of the state employees.

 A source at the talks told Debriefer that the Houthi delegation also discussed with the UN envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, the issue of the salaries of the state employees that have not been paid for four years.

It demanded Griffiths guarantee paying salaries in accordance with the Stockholm Agreement which was signed by the two sides in late 2018.

The discussions on this issue expanded but no progress has been made, the source added. Around 1.2 million employees in Houthi-run Yemen have been unpaid since the central bank was relocated from Sanaa into Aden in September 2016.


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