Through Omani mediation, Houthis release Indonesian, Malaysian in Yemen

The Omani foreign ministry yesterday announced that it had assisted negotiate the release of an Indonesian and a Malaysian held by Houthis in Yemen.

“The Sultanate had reached an agreement with the relevant authorities in Sanaa – Yemen’s Houthi-held capital – for the return of the two captives [Malaysian and Indonesian],” the state-run Oman News Agency quoted a statement by the ministry as saying.

The ministry added that the two men arrived in the Omani capital of Muscat on Monday, in preparation for their return to their countries. It did not provide details about the names of those freed.

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Impoverished Yemen had remained in a state of civil war since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

On 26 March 2015, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies have been waging military operations in Yemen against Houthi militants, whom they believe are backed by Iran. Oman, a sultanate on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, did not join the Arab campaign.

According to UN officials, more than 50,000 people have been killed in the war, while more than 11 per cent of the country’s population has been displaced.