Jordan to host second round of Yemen talks Tuesday

By Laith Juneidi

AMMAN

Jordan will host a second round of talks between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels on Tuesday.

A supervisory committee mandated with discussing a propose prisoner swap between the two sides is set to convene on Feb. 5, according to a statement released by UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths.

The committee reportedly includes representatives of the Yemeni government, the Houthis and the UN.

On Saturday, Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesman Sufyan Qudah confirmed that Amman had agreed to Griffiths’ request to host the meeting later this week.

Talks are aimed at hammering out a prisoner-exchange deal between Yemen’s Aden-based government and the Sanaa-based rebel group.

Last month, Jordan hosted a first round of talks between the two sides in hopes of reaching a mutually-acceptable prisoner-exchange agreement.

Late last year, peace talks in Sweden ended with a ceasefire being declared in Yemen’s coastal Al-Hudaydah province.

Since then, however, the warring parties have both failed to withdraw from the province in line with the terms of the Stockholm agreement.