UN food agency and Yemeni rebels reach deal to restore food aid

CAIRO — The UN food agency on Sunday said it reached an agreement with Yemen’s rebels to resume food deliveries to rebelcontrolled parts of the country after suspending the aid for more than a month.

The partial suspension of aid to the capital, Sanaa, began in June amid accusations that the rebels, known as Houthis, were diverting the food from the hungriest people in the war-torn country, which has been pushed to the brink of starvation.

The suspension affects 850,000 people in Sanaa, where the World Food Program says the bulk of the looting takes place. The Houthis, who have controlled the capital since 2014, denied the charges and accused the WFP of sending spoiled food.

The agency said some of the food that was held for long periods of time in rebel-controlled areas had indeed gone bad.

WFP spokesperson Herve Verhoosel said the agreement to resume food deliveries was “an important step toward safeguards that guarantee the accountability of our humanitarian operation in Yemen.”

Verhoosel did not detail the provisions of the deal or when the agency would resume aid deliveries.

He said the two sides were working out technical details, which they “hope can be agreed in the coming days.”

In July, WFP executive director David Beasley had said the agency would be ready to get food back to Sanaa “within days” of the signing.

Rebel leader Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, head of the Supreme Revolutionary Council of the Houthis, said the deal was signed Saturday.