Yemen's Houthis tease release of longtime political prisoner

A Yemeni political leader with close ties to the country’s internationally recognized government is slated to be released by the Houthis as part of a United Nations-brokered deal revealed on Monday.  

The Yazidi Shiite militia group detained Mohamed Qahtan, the leader of the Sunni Islamist Islah party, more than a decade ago, near the start of Yemen's ongoing catastrophic civil war. 

Over the weekend, UN special envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, reportedly met with representatives from both the Houthis and the Riyadh-based Presidential Leadership Council in Oman as part of discussions related to a major prisoner swap.  

UN mediations 

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric confirmed a potential deal was in progress on Monday and affirmed that the potential exchange would occur in accordance with the Stockholm Agreement.  

Signed in 2018, the Stockholm Agreement provides Yemen’s warring parties with a diplomatic and technical framework for prisoner swaps.  

Dujarric stated that all parties expect to release a complete list of involved individuals and other details surrounding Qahtan's release in the upcoming weeks. 

Following the meeting in Oman, Grundberg also urged the Houthis to release the 45 Yemen-based UN employees, diplomatic staff, and NGO workers who remain imprisoned by the militia.  

At least 150,000 people have died in Yemen’s civil war, according to current UN estimates. Additionally, despite a years-long military intervention led by neighboring Saudi Arabia on behalf of the internationally recognized Yemeni government, the Iran-backed Houthis still retain control of the country’s capital, Sana’a, as well as most major population centers in the country’s northwest.