Yemen has been involved in a civil war between the government and the Houthi rebel since the Protests in 2011. The protest against the government had led to President Saleh to step down in favour of his Vice President Abdrabbh Mansur Hadi. His election as the president had worsened the already fragile peace in the country and has plunged it into civil war.
The United Nations has been attempting to bring the two warring factions into a standstill and find a political solution to the crisis. The Houthis are fighting a Saudi-backed coalition for the control of the country.
The release of 350 prisoners would be a part of confidence-building between the two parties. United Nations would be supervising the release of the prisoners which includes three Saudi nationals. This would progress as an earlier attempt by the United Nations to swap 7,000 prisoners had been stalled after the failure of the sides to agree.
According to a report in Reuters, the head of the Houthis’ prisoner affairs committee, Abdul Qader al-Murtada, said, “Our initiative proves our credibility in implementing the Sweden agreement and we call on the other party to take a comparable step.”
The Houthi’s have been fighting a war with the Saudi-led coalition after it had gained control of the capital of Sana’a and managed to overthrow the government in 2014. The Houthi’s have also offered to stop its drones and missile attacks if the coalition decides to halt its operations.
(Inputs from agencies)