For the third day, the two Yemeni government delegations in the Omani capital, Muscat, continue their consultations to conclude a new agreement to release more detained prisoners and kidnappers, under the auspices of the Office of the United Nations Envoy to Yemen and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Amid extreme secrecy on both sides, without announcing any agreed-upon results or steps. However, local sources close to the discussions confirmed that “discussions are continuing at a high pace between the parties,” indicating that “it is too early to talk about results at the present time.”

The sources indicated, according to what was published by Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, that the delegation of the legitimate government stressed during the first and second days on putting the name of the kidnapped Yemeni politician Muhammad Qahtan at the forefront of the discussions, and then moving to a comprehensive deal based on the principle of “all for all.” 

Discussions of prisoners and detainees began in Muscat on Sunday, amid high hopes that the discussions will yield positive results and that a new achievement will be achieved in the release of more abductees and detainees inside the prisons of the Houthi militia, which has recently intensified its campaigns of kidnappings and arbitrary arrests against civilians in areas under its control.

Majed Fadael, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Human Rights, the official spokesman for the government delegation, had expected that the consultations would continue for about 10 days, indicating that the government delegation’s demand is “the total release of prisoners and abductees without discrimination on the basis of (all for all).”

He continued: “We have clear and explicit directives from our political leadership regarding this, and that the government delegation deals with full responsibility and commitment in this humanitarian file, and that the hidden politician Muhammad Qahtan is not bypassed in any way, and that he is at the head of any exchange deal.”

For its part, a report published by the Democracy Now for the Arab World (DAWN) organization confirmed that thousands of people in Yemen are being arbitrarily detained without any legal procedures. In reference to the ongoing kidnapping campaign carried out by the Houthi militia against employees of international and local organizations.

The report added: "Although there are no official, updated statistics on the number of detainees, the systematic nature of these enforced disappearances indicates that thousands of people are being held incommunicado throughout Yemen." 

The report, prepared by researcher Afrah Nasser, a non-resident fellow at the Arab Center in Washington, DC, emphasized that the Yemeni crisis needs a political solution above all else, which is necessary to restore stability, rebuild the basic functions of the state, and ensure the rule of law.