GENEVA, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President Peter Maurer said Wednesday he held talks the day before in Amman to encourage the different parties to implement the agreement on the release of detainees in Yemen.
"The ICRC welcomes the agreement between Yemeni parties for the release, transfer and return of detainees linked to the conflict," Maurer said at a press conference at the ICRC headquarters here.
"We are happy to see that concerted efforts, led by the Office of the United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen, have materialized," said Maurer.
The ICRC president said the talks have "now reached a critical moment," but he is optimistic about the achievement of a positive outcome.
Maurer said the agreement gives hope to thousands of families whose loved ones have not returned from the battlefield.
"It is a first step towards building a better future for Yemen and its people. We're particularly glad to see that humanitarian considerations are a part of the negotiations and that these can bring relief to the suffering of the Yemeni people," he said.
On Tuesday a UN spokesman said negotiations for prisoners' exchanges in the Yemen civil war had begun in the Jordanian capital and talks on demilitarizing in and around the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah were progressing.
ICRC said it has a longstanding commitment to the people of Yemen where it has been on the ground for decades, working to assist and protect people exposed to violence and conflict over a very long time.
Due to its expertise and its role as a neutral intermediary, the ICRC was approached by the UN and Yemeni parties to play a role in the process.
"We are doing our utmost to support parties on the implementation of the process and are offering technical and logistical expertise," said Maurer.
ICRC has offered its services to help with the process of the simultaneous release and transport of detainees held by parties to the conflict, by certifying the will of each detainee to be part of the process.
Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Houthi rebels overtook Sanaa and toppled the government of President Abd-Rabbuh Mansour Hadi. A Saudi-led coalition has been fighting the Houthis since 2015.
The war has killed more than 10,000 people and created a severe humanitarian crisis.
