RIYADH: Nineteen coalition detainees arrived at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday as part of the exchange agreement with the Houthi militia, Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen Spokesman Brig. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki said.
Sixteen Saudi and three Sudanese prisoners were part of the swap for the release of 250 Houthi prisoners who left Abha International Airport to Sana’a, as reported by the Saudi Press Agency.
Upon arriving at King Khalid International Airport, numerous military officials received the returning coalition detainees, including Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Fayyad Al-Ruwaili and Deputy Chief of the General Staff and Commander of the Joint Forces Lt. Gen. Mutlaq Al-Azima.
They were joined by leaders of the armed forces branches, the military attache at the Ministry of National Guard Maj. Gen. Mohammed Al-Qahtani, and the military attache at the Embassy of the Republic of Sudan to the Kingdom, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Absher.
Al-Maliki said in a statement that the prisoner exchange process is of great interest to the political and military leadership of the coalition to end the prisoner file and return all detainees.
He concluded his statement by praising the leadership of the joint forces of the coalition, as well as the efforts of the International Committee of the Red Cross and UN Special Envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg, for supporting and making the exchange of prisoners and detainees a success.
GCC Secretary-General Jasem Al-Budaiwi welcomed the start of the prisoner exchange process between the Yemeni government and the Houthis, yesterday in Yemen.
Al-Budaiwi praised the agreement, which is set to be the second-largest prisoner exchange of Yemen’s civil war, and an important humanitarian gesture for the return of hundreds of prisoners and detainees to their families during Ramadan.
He said: “This agreement is a new glimmer of hope that gives momentum to efforts aimed at putting the Yemeni crisis on the path to a solution.
“It is an encouraging step that supports peace for Yemen and its brotherly people through a permanent truce and a political solution that outlines the features of stability in Yemen and the region in accordance with the Gulf initiative, its implementation mechanism and the outputs of international security, including Resolutions 2216 and 2624.”
