UN Hails Prisoner Swap Between Yemen Rivals

The UN

has welcomed a major prisoner exchange between Yemen's warring parties,

describing the move as a "breakthrough" towards peace in the war-torn country.

"This is an

important step in the implementation of the Stockholm Agreement and is the

largest prisoner exchange since the start of the conflict," Stephane Dujaric, a

spokesman for the UN secretary-general, said in a statement Saturday.

Dujaric urged the

Yemeni parties to continue their engagement with the UN special envoy Martin

Griffiths "in good faith and without preconditions to finalize the Joint

Declaration" on the nationwide cease-fire and the engagement in "a

comprehensive, inclusive political process to end the war".

On Thursday and

Friday, the Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels swapped prisoners under the

supervision of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

On Sept. 27, a joint

statement by the ICRC and the UN announced a deal in Geneva between the two

warring rivals to exchange 1,081 prisoners, including 15 Saudis and four

Sudanese.

Yemen has been beset

by violence and chaos since 2014, when the Houthi rebels overran much of the

country, including the capital Sanaa. The crisis escalated in 2015 when a

Saudi-led coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back

Houthi territorial gains.

Tens of thousands of

Yemenis, including civilians, are believed to have been killed in the conflict,

which has led to the world's worst humanitarian crisis as millions remain at

risk of starvation.

*Ahmed Asmar

contributed to this report from Ankara -