CAIRO - The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said Tuesday it has released 200 Houthi rebels to advance a U.N.-brokered deal aimed at ending the war in the Arab world’s poorest country. The war has killed over 100,000 people and created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, leaving millions suffering from food and medical care shortages. The rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen in 2014, months before Saudi Arabia entered the war. Yemeni government officials said the release of prisoners was a trust-building measure aimed at encouraging the Houthis to negotiate with the coalition to end the war. Al-Malki, the coalition spokesman, said it would work with the U.N. to fly patients out of Sanaa for treatment abroad.

Source: thestar November 26, 2019 17:15 UTC