Yemen talks about prisoner exchange underway in Jordan

Yemen’s warring sides quietly began U.N.-backed talks about a prisoner swap on Monday, according to United Nations.

U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said a third round of negotiations aimed at implementing an ambitious Yemeni prisoner exchange was underway in Jordanian capital of Amman.

Although heavy clashes continue on ground, resumption of talks signals modest heway in diplomatic efforts to resolve a war that has

prisoner swap deal was seen as a breakthrough during 2018 peace talks in Sweden, where Yemen’s Shiite Houthi rebels and internationally recognized government agreed to several such confidence-building measures, including a cease-fire in strategic port city of Hodeida.

Ongoing military offensives and deep-seated distrust have dogged implementation of tentative peace plan. But more recently, hopes for a settlement have been stirred by

talks focus on interim agreements, such as re-opening Yemen’s main international airport in Sanaa, which was shut down by Saudi-led coalition in 2016. In a sign of progress, two

conflict in Arab world’s poorest country erupted in 2014, when Iran-allied Houthis seized capital and much of country’s rth. A Saudi-led coalition, determined to restore Hi’s government, launched a military intervention months later. Yemen's worsening humanitarian catastrophe has ded a sense of international urgency to political negotiations.