2 U.S. Prisoners Exchanged for 200 Houthi Militants in Yemen

On Wednesday, American media revealed that the Houthi group in Yemen released two American hostages as part of an exchange deal supported by the United States, which also includes the release of 200 members of the group in the Sultanate of Oman.

In the same context, Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi said that his government made "concessions", calling for action regarding peace in the country and the prisoner exchange file with the Houthis.

According to the "Wall Street Journal," Cash Patel, one of US President Donald Trump's endeavours, said: "The deal secured the release of Sandra Lawley, an American humanitarian aid worker who was held hostage by the Houthi group for nearly 3 years."

Patel, who struggled to finalize the exchange, added that the second hostage is "Mikael Gidada, an American businessman who was held by the group for nearly a year," noting that the deal included the return of the remains of Bilal Fateen, a third American who was being held by the Houthis.

On his part, US Presidential Adviser for National Security Affairs Robert O'Brien said: "The United States welcomes the release of citizens Sandra Lawley and Michael Gidadan, and we express our condolences to the family of Bilal Fateen, whose body will be repatriated as well."

Yemeni President met with the UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths, last Monday, at his temporary residence in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, stressing that his government had made "concessions" to complete peace, expressing his support for the work of "Griffiths" to achieve this, according to the official Yemeni News Agency.

The president pointed out that "these efforts were met only with arrogance and intransigence by the coup militias the Houthis".

Furthermore, Griffiths affirmed that he will continue his efforts to achieve peace, including the release and exchange of prisoners, in coordination with the Red Cross.

A UN official had revealed that Griffiths would arrive in Riyadh to persuade the government to agree to the joint declaration path (a n UN initiative) to solve the Yemeni crisis, according to Anadol.

The draft initiative includes, among its most prominent items, a comprehensive ceasefire, and the start of the resumption of political consultations as soon as possible, in addition to humanitarian arrangements to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people as a result of the conflict.