Saudis among hundreds of Yemen POWs freed in swap
Hundreds of prisoners of war, including Saudis, were freed on Saturday as part of a cross-border exchange between a Saudi-led military coalition and Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels, the International Committee of the Red Cross said. The flights connecting Saudi Arabia and Houthi-held territory in Yemen were part of a multi-day transfer involving nearly 900 detainees, and came amid peace talks which have raised hopes for an end to Yemen's eight-year-old war. Saturday's first flight left the southern Saudi city of Abha for Yemen's Houthi-held capital Sanaa with 120 Houthi rebel prisoners, ICRC public affairs and media adviser Jessica Moussan said. It was followed by a flight from Sanaa to Riyadh carrying 20 former detainees, among them 16 Saudis and three Sudanese, according to the state-affiliated Al-Ekhbariya channel. Sudan is part of the Saudi-led coalition and has provided ground troops for the fighting. The Sanaa-Riyadh flight also included a brother and son of Tareq Saleh, a member of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council and nephew of ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Other flights on Saturday included a second Abha-Sanaa leg with 117 Houthis on board, and three more carrying a combined 100 Houthis to Sanaa from the government-held Yemeni town of Mokha. (AFP)