“We hoped to represent legitimacy.” Al-Yadumi mocked the government team’s performance in the Muscat negotiations

The head of the Yemeni Islah Party, Muhammad al-Yadumi, mocked the performance of the government team in the Muscat negotiations regarding prisoners, and the results announced regarding the reformist leader Muhammad Qahtan, who was kidnapped in Houthi prisons for nine years.

This came in a brief tweet published by Al-Yadoumi on his page on the “X” platform, indicating that the team violated the directives of the Presidential Leadership Council regarding not concluding any exchange deal that does not include the release of Muhammad Qahtan, and he said, “We hoped to represent legitimacy.”

Al-Yadumi said, “On June 25, 2024, Brother Yahya Al-Shuaibi, Director of the Office of the Presidency of the Republic, issued a directive to the negotiating team on prisoners and forcibly disappeared persons, stressing that they should not conclude any exchange deal that does not include the release of Brother Muhammad Qahtan, or at least an estimate of revealing his fate.”

He added, "After this directive, a meeting was held in Muscat for the Houthi militia that spoke one language, and we hoped that the legitimacy would have someone to represent it in this meeting."

The United Nations had announced that the government and Houthi delegations had reached an agreement regarding the prisoners, which included the release of Qahtan in exchange for 50 Houthi prisoners, and 50 Houthi bodies if he had died, according to the statements of the Houthi delegation.

These statements by the Houthis and the government delegation sparked angry reactions due to the absurd understandings in the Muscat negotiations and what was announced regarding the reformist leader Muhammad Qahtan, and the Houthi militia’s insinuations about his death.