A Yemeni government spokesman said today (Tuesday) that all arrangements for the implementation of the exchange of 887 prisoners and detainees between the government and the Houthis have been completed, indicating that the process will begin on Thursday.

The spokesman for the government team in the prisoners' negotiations, Majed Fadayel, told Xinhua that all arrangements regarding the implementation of Switzerland's agreement to exchange 887 prisoners and detainees have been finally completed.

He added that the International Committee of the Red Cross has completed its visit to all those covered by the agreement in Marib, Aden and the western coast, and has completed all other arrangements in preparation for the start of the process of implementing the exchange.

Fadayel, who is also the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Human Rights in the Yemeni government, confirmed that the exchange process will begin next Thursday, corresponding to April 13, and on the first day, former Defense Minister Mahmoud Al-Subaihi and General Nasser Mansour Hadi will be transferred from Sana’a to Aden Airport, along with other military prisoners, in conjunction with the transfer of A number of Houthi prisoners from Aden Airport to Sana'a Airport.

According to the spokesman, Fadayel, next Friday, 19 soldiers from the Arab coalition forces will be transferred from Sana'a airport to Riyadh airport, and at the same time, Houthi personnel will be transferred from the Saudi Khamis Mushait airport to Sana'a airport.

And last Saturday, the Yemeni government and the Houthi group announced the postponement of the start date for the exchange of 887 prisoners between them, after it was scheduled to start today (Tuesday).

Last March, the United Nations sponsored a Yemeni round of negotiations between the government and the Houthis regarding prisoners and detainees, and on the 20th of the same month it was announced that an agreement had been reached to exchange 887 prisoners from both sides.

The agreement included the release of 706 Houthi prisoners in exchange for the release of 181 in favor of the government and the Arab coalition.

In 2020, the United Nations sponsored a round of negotiations in Switzerland, at which time an agreement was reached, according to which the Yemeni government and the Houthi group implemented an exchange operation that included more than 1,000 prisoners and detainees from both sides.

Yemen has been suffering from a bloody conflict since late 2014 between the government and the Houthis, and this is the second largest exchange between the two sides, once completed.