Yemeni prisoner swap talks to begin Thursday in Amman

Representatives of the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels will hold talks in Amman starting Thursday to finalise a prisoner exchange, Jordan's foreign ministry said.

In December, the government and the rebels agreed in Oman to a prisoner swap of nearly 3,000 people - the largest such exchange in 11 years of war should it succeed.

The two sides will meet from 5 to 19 February in Amman "under the auspices of the United Nations" to discuss the implementation of the agreement, the Jordanian ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Majed Fadhail, a member of the government delegation for the prisoner swap talks, said on X that the discussions should enable "the finalisation of lists, agreement on names and implementation of what was approved" in December.

The Iran-backed Houthis have been at war with the government, supported by a Saudi-led coalition, since 2015 in a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and triggered a major humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

The fighting, however, has decreased significantly since a UN-negotiated truce in 2022.