Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) Vice President Major General Sultan al-Arada stressed that the issue of prisoners and abductees in Yemen is a purely humanitarian one that cannot be used for bargaining or blackmail by the Houthi militias to achieve further gains.

 

Al-Arada made the remarks during a meeting on Tuesday with Radwa Nour, the political advisor and detainee file official in the office of the United Nations Special Envoy envoy to Yemen, in the presence of several members of the government negotiating team on the prisoners and abductees file. Both discussed a number of political and humanitarian issues and files related to Yemen, most notably the issue of prisoners and abductees.

 

Al-Arada emphasized the keenness of the PLC and the government to address the issue of prisoners and abductees and to implement previous agreements reached with the Houthi militias on completing the exchange process. He also praised the efforts of the UN Envoy's Office in this regard, despite the intransigence of the Houthi militias, which continue to seek to exploit these humanitarian cases.

 

Al-Arada called on the international community to exert sufficient pressure on the Houthi militias to implement UN-sponsored agreements, particularly the Stockholm Agreement, which stipulates the release of all prisoners and abductees under the "all for all" principle.