Oman, Houthis reach deal on status of detained Yemen minister

Detained Yemeni Defence Minister Major General Mahmoud Al-Subaihi will be allowed to contact his family after Oman made a deal with his jailors.

Under the agreement between Oman and the opposition Houthi group, Al-Subaihi – who was arrested in March 2015 in Yemen’s southern province of Aden – will be allowed to contact his family.

“The Sultanate reached agreement with the relevant authorities in Sanaa on the status of the Yemeni Defence Minister, Major General Mahmoud Al-Subaihi, and allow him to communicate with his relatives. Oman hopes that further steps would be followed to find a definitive solution for the detainees and prisoners in Yemen,” the Omani Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Yemeni government said in previous statements that the Houthis have refused to release all prisoners as “a gesture of good will before any negotiations” and accused them of arresting and abducting more than 3,000 Yemenis including Al-Subaihi and other military and political leaders.

In May, a senior Houthi leader, Mohamed Ali Al-Houthi, announced on Twitter that the group is willing to exchange prisoners with the legitimate government and Saudi Arabia either directly or through the Red Cross.

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