Two U.S. hostages are now free after a trade that returned more than 200 Houthi militants to Yemen.
Kash Patel, the senior director on counterterrorism at the White House National Security Council, told the Wall Street Journal that the Wednesday trade secured the release of humanitarian worker Sandra Loli and businessman Mikael Gidada. Loli had been held captive by the Iran-backed Houthis for about three years, and Gidada had been a hostage for about one year.
The two were flown out of Sanaa on a Royal Oman Air Force plane that had hours earlier helped transfer more than 200 Houthi rebels back to Yemen. Also aboard the return flight were the remains of Bilal Fateen, another U.S. hostage who had been held by the militants.
U.S. officials have reportedly been working overtime to bring the deal, which also included medical aid for Yemen, to fruition, given that there were concerns about Loli’s health.
National security adviser Robert O’Brien praised the release of the U.S. citizens and thanked Sultan Haitham bin Tariq of Oman and King Salman of Saudi Arabia for their help with securing the trade.
“President Trump continues to prioritize securing the release and repatriation of Americans held hostage abroad. We will not rest until those held are home with their loved ones,” he said in a Wednesday statement.
A Saudi Arabia-led coalition and Houthi rebels have been in a bitter and protracted fight since the rebels, with support from Saudi Arabia’s regional foe Iran, overthrew the Yemeni government and captured Sanaa about five years ago. Since then, the conflict has morphed into a proxy war of sorts, with Iran backing the Houthis and the United States providing Saudi Arabia with military support used to combat the rebels.
Saudi Arabia was reportedly hesitant about supporting Wednesday’s swap, although it later backed the agreement. Saudi officials told the Wall Street Journal that among the militants who were returned were dozens who had drone and missile knowledge.
The Houthis have used drones to attack oil sites in Saudi Arabia, which United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council were of Iranian origin. In February, the USS Normandy intercepted a small boat carrying a variety of Iranian munitions; officials said that the munitions were believed to be bound from Iran to Houthi fighters in the Arabian Peninsula.
Saudi Arabia has been criticized for its use of airstrikes against those in the fractious country, which have killed thousands of Yemeni civilians. There has been criticism among lawmakers in Congress about the role that the U.S. has played and is playing in the conflict, specifically in providing Saudis with weapons and intelligence for its intervention in Yemen.
Patel said that none of the Houthi fighters who were returned to Yemen on Wednesday were on U.S. terrorism watchlists and said some of the high-risk militants that the Houthis wanted back were blocked from the trade.
“We had teams on the ground in both locations [Yemen and Oman] to ensure that there was a proper screening conducted of the people going back and that the cargo manifest was inspected so we could ensure the Saudis that no lethal aid was being provided and no known terrorist was being sent back,” Patel said.
Many of the Houthis who were returned had been in Oman for years after being transported there for medical treatment. The treatment was supposed to be a gesture of goodwill on the part of the Saudi-led coalition, although the militants were then stuck in Oman when the Saudis blocked their return.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the State Department and to officials at the White House National Security Council about the hostage release.
