Updated

Two participants at Yemen peace talks in Switzerland say rebels have agreed to release five high-profile prisoners, including the president's brother and the defense minister, as a gesture of good will.

They say Defense Minister Mahmoud Subaihi and Gen. Nasser Mansour Hadi, brother of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, will be handed over to the Red Cross with the other three prisoners later on Saturday. The participants, one from the Shiite rebel delegation and the other from Yemen's internationally recognized government, spoke anonymously as they were not authorized to brief reporters.

Yemen's fighting pits the internationally recognized government backed by a Saudi-led, U.S.-supported coalition against the rebels, known as Houthis, who are allied with a former president and backed by Iran.