...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...released seven Huthi prisoners on Wednesday and returned them to Sanaa, the UN said, even as the military alliance said it could use renewed force against the rebels.
The seven Huthis were transferred from the Saudi capital Riyadh to rebel-held Sanaa by the International Committee of the Red Thingy, the UN said.
The office of UN envoy Martin Griffiths said he hoped that the move would give rise to a "rapid implementation of the prisoner exchange agreement" reached as part of a truce deal negotiated between Yemen's Saudi-backed government and the Iran-aligned rebels in Sweden last month.
The ICRC, which is overseeing the prisoner exchange process between the warring sides, confirmed it had flown seven Yemenis to Sanaa.
"Another hope for many families separated by the conflict in Yemen," the organization wrote on Twitter.
But the coalition warned later Wednesday it was still prepared to use "force" against the Huthis to make the rebels abide by the UN-backed truce deal.
"The coalition is prepared to use... force to prod Huthi compliance with (the) Stockholm agreement," a coalition source told AFP.