Yemen govt proposes Ramadan POW exchange with rebels

Two government ministers call for Red Cross, Red Crescent mediation for all prisoners to return to their homes for holy month.

RIYADH - The Yemeni government on Wednesday proposed a prisoner exchange for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan with Shiite Huthi rebels with whom its forces have been at war since 2015.

The Saudi information ministry in Riyadh, where Yemen's president has been based for the past three years since the rebels captured Sanaa, said in a statement that the offer was made by Information Minister Moammer al-Iryani and Human Rights Minister Mohammed Askar.

It came on the eve of the start of Ramadan.

The ministers called for Red Cross and Red Crescent mediation for all prisoners to return to their homes for the holy month, including 14 Yemeni journalists held by the Huthis and an unspecified number of foreign detainees.

Tribal mediation has in the past led to the release of hundreds of prisoners by the warring parties. The number of those still detained is unknown.

Saudi Arabia launched an Arab military intervention in Yemen in March 2015, aimed at rolling back the Iran-backed Huthis and restoring the internationally recognised government to power.

The conflict has left nearly 10,000 people dead, tens of thousands wounded, and millions on the brink of famine in what the United Nations has called the world's worst humanitarian crisis.