According to Oman’s foreign ministry, 14 foreigners who were detained in Yemen were released and transferred from the Houthi-controlled Yemeni capital Sanaa to Muscat.
A British man, his wife and child, seven Indian nationals, a Filipino, an Indonesian, an Ethiopian, and a Myanmar person were among those released on Sunday, according to the ministry, which did not specify what had led to their incarceration.
The Briton was identified as Luke Symons by the British authorities, who said he had been kept without indictment or trial since 2017.
“Luke was 25 years old when he was kidnapped by the Houthis. His son was only a few months old at the time, according to Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.
Truss stated, “He was allegedly mistreated, held in solitary confinement, and denied visits from his family.”
Symons travelled to Yemen in 2012, according to Amnesty International, where he met and married his Yemeni wife. It claimed he had been accused of spying for the British government by the Houthis, the de facto rulers of North Yemen, though he had not been charged formally.
The 14 were released after Oman’s intervention, according to Houthi top negotiator Mohammed Abdulsalam, who made no mention of the causes or conditions of the detentions.
All 14 people were transferred on an Oman Royal Air Force plane to the Omani capital on Sunday, in preparation for their return to their countries, according to Oman’s foreign ministry. After communicating with Saudi Arabia to facilitate the issuance of the necessary permits, all 14 people were transferred on an Oman Royal Air Force plane to the Omani capital on Sunday, in preparation for their return to their countries.
Yemen’s sea and airspace are controlled by a Saudi-led coalition. The coalition does not include Oman.
Under a United Nations-brokered pact, the warring parties in Yemen’s seven-year conflict agreed to a statewide cease-fire for the first time in years earlier this month.
The 60-day cease-fire, which began on April 2, came amid strong international and regional attempts to find a resolution to the conflict that has ravaged the Arab world’s poorest country and brought it dangerously close to famine.
While air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition and cross-border Houthi raids on Saudi Arabia have ceased, fighting continues in some sections of the nation, such as Marib.
In early 2015, the coalition launched a war in support of internationally recognised President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who was pushed into exile months after the Houthis, who are backed by Iran, took control of Sanaa and much of northern Yemen.
The conflict has evolved into a regional proxy war in recent years, with over 150,000 people killed, including at least 14,500 civilians. It has also resulted in one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.
