Yemen’s Ansarullah, Saudi Arabia exchange prisoners

Yemen’s Ansarullah movement has freed a Saudi soldier in exchange for seven detained Yemenis as part of a tribally-mediated agreement, a report says.

The official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said in a Wednesday statement that the prisoner swap was launched by Yemeni tribal figures to diminish the violence in the border area and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Yemenis.

Riyadh “welcomed the continuation of a state of calm along the border... which contributes to arriving at a political solution,” the statement said.

On Tuesday, two senior Houthi officials told Reuters that representatives of the group had arrived in Saudi Arabia to discuss a truce along the frontier.

The visit reportedly began on Monday at the invitation of Saudi authorities, following a week of secret preparatory talks, the officials said.

According to the unnamed officials, the delegation in Saudi Arabia is headed by Mohammed Abdel-Salam, a senior adviser to the group’s leader Abdel-Malik al-Houthi.

SS