Red Cross: Yemen rebels, Saudi coalition begin prisoner swap

By AHMED AL-HAJ and SAMY MAGDY
Associated Press

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — An exchange of more than 800 prisoners by Yemen’s warring parties has begun. That’s according to an announcement on Friday by the International Committee for the Red Cross, which is overseeing the exchange. The three-day operations will see flights transport prisoners between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, long held by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. Other flights will bring prisoners to Sanaa from other Yemeni cities controlled by the internationally recognized government. The United Nations-brokered deal, in the works for months, comes amid concerted diplomatic efforts to negotiate an end to the conflict. The war has killed more than 150,000 people since it erupted in 2014, including fighters and civilians, and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.