The conclusion of the Swiss consultations An exchange deal between the government of Yemen and the Houthis that includes 887 prisoners

At the conclusion of consultations held in Switzerland, the Yemeni government and the Houthi group announced, on Monday, an agreement to release 887 prisoners and abductees.

The Yemeni government and the Houthi group announced, on Monday, an agreement to release 887 prisoners and abductees, at the end of the consultations held in Switzerland on the exchange of prisoners between the two parties.

Since March 11, consultations have been taking place between the Yemeni government and the Houthis in Switzerland, under the auspices of the United Nations, to exchange prisoners from both sides.

"It was agreed with the Houthi group to release 887 prisoners and abductees from both sides as a first stage," Majid Fadayel, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Human Rights in the government, told Anadolu Agency.

According to Fadhil, a member of the prisoner exchange committee, "the deal includes the exchange of 4 death row journalists from the Houthi group, and a number of military and security leaders."

He explained that among those included in the agreement were "a number of prisoners of the Arab coalition, Nasser Mansour (brother of former President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi), former Defense Minister Mahmoud al-Subaihi, the children of former Vice President Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, and the children of the deputy head of the leadership council, Brigadier General Tariq Muhammad Abdullah." righteous".

Fadayel continued, "Today's agreement is considered a first stage of the round of negotiations between the legitimate government and the Houthi group, to be followed by other stages leading to total release on the basis of (all for all)."

For his part, the head of the Prisoners' Affairs Committee in the Houthi group, Abdul Qadir Al-Murtada, confirmed that "an agreement has been reached to implement a broad exchange deal with the government party."

Al-Murtada said in a statement that the deal "includes 706 of our prisoners (Houthis elements) in exchange for 181 prisoners of the other party (the government), including Saudis and Sudanese."

He pointed out that "the deal will be implemented after three weeks, provided that another round will be held after the month of Ramadan to complete the implementation of the agreement."

In turn, the Yemeni Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the results of the agreement with the Houthis, which "results in the release of 887 prisoners and abductees from both sides."

The ministry said in a statement, "Of the prisoners, 181 are in favor of the government and the coalition, including Major General Mahmoud Al-Subaihi, Major General Nasser Hadi, Muhammad Muhammad Abdullah Saleh, Afash Tariq Saleh and 4 journalists, in addition to 19 from the Arab coalition."

And it called for "the continuation of the work of the joint committee and the completion of agreement on the details of the remaining prisoners and abductees, in accordance with the principle (all for all)."

In late March 2022, the Yemeni government signed an agreement with the Houthis under the auspices of the United Nations to exchange more than 2,200 prisoners from both sides, but the process of their release faltered amid mutual accusations of obstructing it.

During consultations in Sweden in 2018, the two parties submitted lists of more than 15,000 prisoners, detainees and abductees, but no accurate official count of numbers is available after this date.

Yemen is suffering from a war that began after the Houthis took control of the capital, Sana'a, and several provinces at the end of 2014, and the conflict escalated since March 2015, following the intervention of an Arab military coalition led by Saudi Arabia to support the legitimate government forces to confront the Iran-backed Houthi group.

“To avoid huge damage.” Switzerland allocates $280 billion to rescue Credit Suisse

Documents showed that the Swiss banks Credit Suisse and “UBS” could benefit from support that the state and the central bank would provide them with about 260 billion Swiss francs ($ 280 billion), while the Swiss Finance Minister confirmed that the bankruptcy of Credit Suisse would have caused “huge collateral damage.” ".

Documents showed that the Swiss banks Credit Suisse and “UBS” could benefit from the support that the state and the central bank will provide them with about 260 billion Swiss francs ($ 280 billion), which is a third of the country’s gross domestic product, after their merger to protect Switzerland from global financial turmoil.

Yesterday, the Swiss authorities announced the approval of UBS Bank to buy its rival Credit Suisse in a strong merger aimed at avoiding further turmoil in the global banking sector.

UBS said it would pay $3.2 billion to acquire Credit Suisse, which was founded 167 years ago, while the government said UBS would also bear initial losses of $5.4 billion due to the liquidation of financial contracts and other risky assets.

However, the deal includes providing significant financial support with the availability of three tranches of liquidity and loans, in addition to a commitment from the Swiss government to bear about nine billion francs of potential losses as a result of the acquisition.

The total subsidy of about 260 billion francs is equivalent to a third of Switzerland's total economic output, which amounted to 771 billion francs last year.

In a note seen by Reuters and sent to employees on Sunday after the deal was announced, Credit Suisse assured employees that their bonuses would be paid in full.

Credit Suisse has already relied on a program of the Swiss National Bank that provides emergency liquidity.

Credit Suisse said last Wednesday it would take 50 billion francs from the program, which provides financing with collateral such as mortgages and securities. Banks can withdraw more of this financing as long as they have more guarantees.

Monday's SNB data indicated that Credit Suisse may have already benefited from the financing.

Moreover, after their merger, the central bank offered the two banks a loan of around CHF100 billion as part of an emergency liquidity package, which is protected in case of default.

The third tranche of the support provided allows Credit Suisse to withdraw an additional 100 billion francs of financing through liquidity support, which is guaranteed by the Swiss government.

The SNB declined to comment on whether Credit Suisse or UBS benefited from the money offered.

Credit Suisse is the bank most affected by the global market turmoil that resulted from the collapse of Silicon Valley and Signature banks in the United States.

Credit Suisse and UBS were also among a group of 30 major international banks that regulators are watching closely. The Swiss government said late Sunday that the collapse of Credit Suisse would cast a shadow over the entire financial system.

"The bankruptcy of Credit Suisse would have caused huge collateral damage to the Swiss financial market as well, in addition to the risk of the crisis spreading to Led and other banks, as well as at the international level," Swiss Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter told a press conference.