New York, May 15 (Petra)-- United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Friday expressed gratitude to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan for hosting and supporting the Yemeni negotiations held in Amman, which resulted in an agreement between the parties to the conflict in Yemen to release more than 1,600 conflict-related detainees.

In a statement issued in his name, Guterres said the deal marks the largest agreement of its kind since the outbreak of the conflict and noted that "this achievement follows weeks of direct negotiations in Amman, Jordan, under the auspices of the UN Special Envoy for Yemen." The UN chief also thanked the Sultanate of Oman and Switzerland for hosting previous rounds of talks on the issue.

Guterres urged the parties to expedite implementation of the agreement in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross to enable families to reunite as soon as possible.

He also called for further releases in line with the 2018 Stockholm Agreement, under which the parties pledged to release all conflict-related detainees according to the principle of "all for all." The Secretary-General further urged the Yemeni government and the Houthis to build on the positive momentum generated by Thursday’s agreement and engage constructively with his Special Envoy toward a comprehensive political process aimed at achieving a just and lasting peace in Yemen.

//Petra// MF