DUBAI - Saudi Arabia on Monday will release a number of detainees to Yemen, the International Committee of the Red Cross said, in a unilateral move that follows three days of simultaneous detainee exchanges between the warring parties in Yemen's conflict.
Yemeni rebels and government forces freed scores of prisoners Sunday on the last of a three-day exchange of nearly 900 detainees, boosting hopes of ending their protracted war.
Planes carrying detainees took off at the same time from Sanaa and the government-controlled northern city of Marib, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said.
Some were taken to the Red Cross planes in wheelchairs. All released prisoners were given plastic bags with food to eat when the daily Ramadan fast was over. At the airport in Sanaa, Huthi fighters staged a ceremonial dance with swords to greet their comrades. "Forty-eight former detainees were on board the Marib-Sanaa flight, and 42 on the Sanaa-Marib flight," ICRC media adviser Jessica Moussan told AFP.
Three other flights during the day were to complete the deal reached in Switzerland last month to exchange 181 government forces for 706 rebels, just before Eid al-Fitr.
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