Yemen rebels and Saudis agree border ‘calm’, swap prisoners

 

Yemen’s Iran-backed rebels have freed a Saudi soldier in return for seven detained Yemenis as part of a tribal-mediated border truce agreed by both sides, the Riyadh-led coalition said Wednesday.
The agreement reached during a visit by a Yemeni tribal delegation to the kingdom is the first of its kind since the Saudi-led coalition began a military campaign against the rebels in March last year.
Yemen’s delegation sought to negotiate a truce “along the border with the kingdom to allow the entry of medical and humanitarian aid to Yemeni
towns near the theatre of operations”, the coalition statement said.
Coalition forces have responded by allowing aid to flow through the Alb border crossing, said the statement published by the official SPA news agency.
Saudi soldier Jaber al-Kaabi was handed over to the coalition in exchange for seven Yemenis who were detained by Saudi authorities at the border, it added.


AFP