Yemen's parties to exchange prisoners

Yemen's Houthi rebels and its internationally recognised government agreed Tuesday to a prisoner swap involving nearly 3,000 people, including seven Saudis — making it the largest such exchange in 11 years of war should it succeed.

The breakthrough deal came after nearly a fortnight of discussions between officials from both sides in Muscat, the capital of neighbouring Oman, a key mediator in Yemen's long-running conflict.

Officials gave few details about the next steps, but observers pressed both sides to follow through to bolster peace efforts.

Abdulqader al-Mortada, a negotiator with the Houthi delegation, said in a statement on X that "we signed an agreement today with the other party to implement a large-scale prisoner exchange deal involving 1,700 of our prisoners in exchange for 1,200 of theirs, including seven Saudis and 23 Sudanese".

Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Yemen, Mohamed AlJabir, said his country worked with the UN on the agreement, signed under the auspices of the world body and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).