CAIRO — Yemen’s warring sides have agreed to implement a long-delayed and major prisoner swap, the United Nations said on Sunday, in a sign that talks to end the disastrous war between the country's internationally recognized government and its Houthi rebels could be making progress. It would be the “first official large-scale” exchange of its kind since the beginning of the conflict in the Arab World's poorest country, according to the U.N. The prisoner swap deal was seen as a breakthrough during 2018 peace talks in Sweden. The Houthis and the internationally recognized government agreed then to several confidence-building measures, including a cease-fire in the strategic port city of Hodeida. Implementation of the tentative peace plan stumbled amid ongoing military offensives and a deep-seated distrust between the two sides.

Source: International New York Times February 16, 2020 15:33 UTC