RIYADH — The Arab Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen announced on Thursday the decision to release 163 Houthi prisoners as a humanitarian gesture. "The Coalition Command has started finalizing the procedures for releasing the prisoners, and transferring them to the Yemeni capital of Sana'a, and that is in coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross," said Brig. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki, spokesman of the Coalition. The spokesman said that the release of the prisoners, who participated in the hostilities targeting Saudi territories, is part of a humanitarian initiative and an extension of the previous humanitarian initiatives. "This is also in support of all efforts and endeavors to end the Yemeni crisis and establish peace, as well as to boost the efforts of the United Nations to consolidate the current truce and create an atmosphere for initiating dialogue between the Yemeni parties," he said. Al-Maliki said this humanitarian gesture would facilitate winding up the file of prisoners, detainees and martyrs in line with Islamic values, humanitarian principles and the original Arab traditions and the provisions of international humanitarian law represented in the texts and provisions of the Third Geneva Convention, whose implementation has been suspended since the year 2018 with the inking of the Stockholm Agreement. The spokesman emphasized the keenness of the political and military leadership on the closing of the file of the exchange of prisoners and martyrs. "The leadership always emphasizes dealing with this file from purely humanitarian grounds, away from political and military gains or other considerations," he added.
