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RIYADH: Spokesman for the Arab coalition forces Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asiri has denied that Houthi rebels are holding any Saudi prisoner in Yemen. He also denied reports about the arrival of a plane carrying a Houthi delegation to the Omani capital, Muscat, and six hostages including two Saudis, three Americans and one British citizen.
Asiri said that the Houthis are trying to market themselves as hostile to the Arab coalition, pointing out that the abductees, who were transferred and handed over to Muscat on Thursday evening, are civilians who were living and working legally in Yemen and working in their own businesses, and were abducted and detained as hostages under duress, not prisoners. He said the abduction took place during the period of lawlessness in Yemen.
Asiri called on the media to be accurate in reporting the news, and to obtain all news from official sources in the coalition without paying attention to any rumors.