Hadi wants full militia pullout from Hodeida
Al Houthis ready to hand over port to UN, Griffiths says
Yemen’s embattled president has demanded a full militia withdrawal from conflict-hit Hodeida, a government source said, after talks with the UN’s top envoy yesterday in Aden.
UN envoy Martin Griffiths met with President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, whose troops are battling Al Houthi militants for control of Hodeida, in the latest round of talks aimed at containing the escalating violence.
“President Hadi insisted on the need for Al Houthis to withdraw completely and without conditions from Hodeida, or face a military solution,” a Yemeni government source told AFP.
Yemen’s government has also demanded a “full withdrawal from Hodeida, including the port” in a statement carried by state news agency Saba. Hodeida is at the centre of a military offensive by the Yemeni government and its regional allies, led by the UAE on the ground. Griffiths told Hadi that the Iran-backed Al Houthi militants have agreed to cede control of the port to the UN.
UN special envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths yesterday made a short visit to the southern city of Aden for talks with President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi on the ongoing fight in the militant-held coastal city of Hodeida.
Griffiths ‘visit came more than a week after he met Al Houthi leaders in the capital Sana’a in a failed attempt to convince them to peacefully withdraw from Hodeida in order to avoid an escalating battle there and revive Yemen’s longstalled peace negotiations.
The Dubai-based television Al Arabiya reported that the UN envoy informed Hadi yesterday that Al Houthis had agreed to put Hodeida’s vital port under UN supervision.
Hadi told the former British diplomat that Al Houthis have to quit Al Hodeida and its port, or face military “resolution” there, Al Arabiya added without details.
Yemen government mum
There was no immediate comment from the Hadi government or the UN. Griffiths later yesterday left Aden without making statements.
Aden has been the temporary seat of Hadi’s administration since Al Houthis seized Sana’a in a late 2014 coup against the internationally recognised government.
The Yemeni government and an allied Saudi-led coalition have repeatedly demanded the Iran-backed militants to cede Hodeida and its harbour in order to stop their weeks-long campaign to retake the Red Sea city and relaunch the peace process to end the war.
Hodeida in western Yemen is strategically important because its harbour is a lifeline for millions of Yemenis, as most of the commercial imports and relief supplies enter through it to the country.
Earlier this month, the government forces, supported by the Arab coalition, unleashed a major offensive dubbed “Golden Victory” aimed at expelling Al Houthis from Hodeida, a city of around 600,000 people.
Last week, the coalition forces seized complete control of the Hodeida airport located around 10 kilometres from the harbour.
The takeover of the sprawling airport has dealt a major blow to Al Houthis, who have been in control of Hodeida since October 2014, a month after they overran Sana’a.
The coalition accuses Al Houthis of taking advantage of their control of the harbour to obtain weapons from their Iranian patrons as well as confiscate aid intended for Yemenis in order to sustain their war efforts.
The alliance also charges Al Houthis of using Hodeida as a launch pad for attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and for smuggling in weapons.
Al Houthis have in recent months ramped up missile attacks against neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
On Sunday, Saudi air forces intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles fired by Al Houthis towards the Saudi capital Riyadh.