Saudi Arabia announced a large prisoner swap on Monday with its Houthi rebel adversaries in the Yemen war — 109 Yemenis for nine Saudis — in what appeared to be meant as a signal that the two sides would honor a cease-fire planned for April 10.
The Saudi announcement, conveyed in a terse dispatch by the official Saudi Press Agency, said the prisoner exchange was completed on Sunday. It did not specify the location; presumably it took place somewhere along the Saudi-Yemeni frontier.
The dispatch described the prisoners Saudi Arabia released as “Yemeni citizens arrested in operations areas near the Saudi southern border,” but did not say whether they were fighters or civilians. Neither did it further describe the Saudis who were released.
The exchange was only the second to be announced since a Saudi-led coalition began a campaign of aerial bombings aimed at the Houthi rebels and their allies in Yemen a year ago. The first announced prisoner exchange took place earlier this month, with seven Yemenis freed in exchange for one Saudi.
International pressure has been building on Saudi Arabia to end the war, which has turned Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country, into a humanitarian disaster. The Saudis have been seeking to reinstate the government of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, routed into exile last year by the Houthis, who are regarded by Saudi Arabia as proxies of Iran, its regional rival.
Mr. Hadi returned to Yemen in September from exile in Saudi Arabia, re-establishing himself in the southern Yemeni port of Aden. The Houthis still control much of the country, though, including Sana, the capital. Islamic extremist groups, including the Islamic State, have also exploited the vacuum of authority to build their presence in Yemen.
Last week, a United Nations mediator seeking to broker an end to the conflict announced that the antagonists had agreed to halt hostilities on April 10, to be followed by a new round of peace talks on April 18 in Kuwait. Although previous attempts at a cease-fire and peace talks have failed, the mediator, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, said he was more optimistic this time.
International relief agencies have expressed mounting alarm about the deteriorating situation in Yemen. Summarizing the past year of conflict, the World Health Organization said in a statement on Sunday that more than 6,200 people had been killed and 30,000 wounded. The organization also said that more than 21 million Yemenis — 82 percent of the population — were in need of humanitarian aid, and that more than 14 million needed urgent health services, including more than two million malnourished children and women who are pregnant or lactating.
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