Video PlayerClose

ADEN, Yemen, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths announced on Sunday the launching of a new round of consultations on exchanging war prisoners between Yemen's two warring rivals.

According to a press statement released by the envoy's office, the fifth meeting of the Supervisory Committee on the Implementation of the Prisoners and Detainees Exchange Agreement between Yemen's government and the Houthi group has started in Jordan under the auspices of the United Nations.

Griffiths urged the delegations of the two warring sides "to prioritize in their discussions the immediate and unconditional release of all sick, wounded, elderly and children detainees as well as all arbitrarily detained civilians, including women."

He also urged the parties "to discuss and agree on names beyond the Amman meeting lists to fulfill their Stockholm commitment of releasing all conflict-related detainees as soon as possible."

The UN envoy expressed his gratitude to Jordan for hosting the meeting.

The committee brings together the parties to the conflict in Yemen and is co-chaired by the Office of the Special Envoy for Yemen and the International Committee of the Red Cross, according to the envoy's statement.

The delegations representing the two warring rivals will discuss the release of additional numbers of prisoners and detainees after releasing 1,065 prisoners and detainees in October last year, according to a local government official in Yemen.

The official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that "this round will be specified to discuss implementing the second part of Amman's deal signed between the two warring rivals on Feb. 16 of the last year."

The second part of the Amman's deal considers releasing nearly 300 prisoners from both sides including high-ranking government officials who are still seized by the Houthis in the country's capital Sanaa, he said.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized control of several northern provinces and forced the internationally-recognized government of Hadi out of Sanaa. Enditem