Two American prisoners held captive by Yemen Houthi rebels have been released and taken to neighbouring Oman after Omani officials mediated their release, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Saturday.
Kerry, speaking to reporters in the Swiss city of Lausanne, also said that the United States was discussing a ceasefire in Yemen with Saudi officials.
Oman state television broadcast footage of the two Americans disembarking from a plane belonging to the Royal Air Force of Oman. Yemenis wounded in the civil war in Yemen were also flown for treatment to Oman on the same plane, it reported.
A Foreign Ministry official told the broadcaster that Oman had worked with Yemeni authorities in Sanaa to secure the Americans' release. A Houthi official confirmed their departure from Sanaa.
The U.S. State Department expressed gratitude to the Omani government for facilitating the release.
"We are working very hard to get a framework in Yemen which will change the dynamics and move that to the table as soon as possible," Kerry said, adding, "I will maybe have more to say on that tomorrow (Sunday) in London but it remains a top priority for us to try to end the violence."
The United Nations estimates that 10,000 people have been killed in the fighting in Yemen.