Yemen Monitor / Newsroom:
The head of the Yemeni government negotiating delegation on the prisoner and detainee file, Hadi Haig, said on Friday that the Houthi group had halted the implementation of a detainee exchange process that was scheduled to be completed on Saturday, holding the group responsible for the failure of the agreement brokered under UN auspices.
In a statement to the official Yemeni News Agency (SABA), Haig explained that the government team had received notification from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Office of the UN Envoy to Yemen stating that the Houthis had refused to carry out the exchange process on its scheduled date and had postponed it indefinitely.
He added that the government side had completed all necessary procedures to implement the deal and release detainees and abductees, despite what he described as obstacles placed by the Houthi group during the preparation phases of the operation.
Haig held the Houthis responsible for disrupting the exchange process, stating that this reflects the continued use of the prisoner and detainee file as a lever for political, military, and economic blackmail, and a disregard for the suffering of detainees and their families.
Earlier, a source from the government negotiating team told Yemen Monitor that the Houthi group had refused to commit to the implementation date for the deal, which was scheduled to begin tomorrow. The source indicated that the government team had received confirmation from the ICRC and the UN envoy’s office affirming the Houthis’ rejection of starting the deal, without providing further reasons for this intransigence.
According to sources, the head of the government team, Hadi Haig, met with ICRC representatives this evening, Friday, in Marib, where they officially informed the team of the Houthis’ refusal to begin implementation according to the agreed timeline—despite the government having completed all necessary logistical and technical arrangements to ensure the operation’s success.
The sources stated that the Houthi refusal was sudden, and that the ICRC had canceled the flights that had been arranged and scheduled to transport prisoners and detainees, which were ready and prepared to depart from Djibouti today following the Houthis’ rejection.
