UN team arrives in Yemen to monitor ceasefire in Hodeidah
UN truce monitors arrived in Aden yesterday and met Yemeni government officials before a trip to the rebel-held capital of Sanaa.
The team led by Patrick Cammaert, a retired Dutch general, will then travel to the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah where they will meet Houthi officials, said Col Wathah Al Dubaish, spokesman for the pro-government Al Amalikah forces.
The UN mission is to secure the operations of Hodeidah’s port and supervise the withdrawal of fighters from the city.
Pro-government forces are expected to withdraw to the southern flanks of Hodeidah and Houthi rebels to the north after the monitors take their place, an army source said.
Another source with Al Amalikah brigade said government forces in Hodeidah received orders from central command on Friday to withdraw.
“We have withdrawn our forces from positions in the city to the southern area of Al Duraihmi,” the source said.
“At the moment forces affiliated with the National Resistance are still in their positions in the city and are supposed to withdraw to the southern areas in the next few days.”
Residents in Hodeidah said yesterday that the area had been calm since Friday evening.
One resident said that Houthi
rebels were still stationed across Hodeidah, and could be seen wearing uniforms of official security forces.
Mr Cammaert was yesterday welcomed by Saghir bin Aziz, a general who leads the government team given the task of organising the withdrawal of troops from Hodeidah.
He met Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik and the governor of Hodeidah, Hassan Taher, Col Al Dubaish said.
The UN team was on Friday given 30 days to monitor a ceasefire in Hodeidah and surrounding areas. Any breaches will be reported by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to the Security Council during weekly meetings.
A resolution was unanimously adopted by the 15-member council a week after Martin Griffiths, the UN special envoy to Yemen, said there was an urgent need for the truce to be verified.
The resolution authorised Mr Guterres to send an advance team to start monitoring the ceasefire and to implement the Stockholm Agreement from UN-brokered peace talks between the Houthis and the internationally recognised government in Sweden.
The resolution was welcomed by the UAE and Saudi Arabia, members of the Arab Coalition backing Yemen’s government.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr Anwar Gargash, said on Twitter that the resolution “sends a strong message & forms an important step towards a lasting political solution”.
Dr Gargash said the decision “will help to ensure the ceasefire and redeployment are upheld”.
In a statement released late Friday, the Yemeni government pledged to work “in a positive spirit” with UN envoy Martin Griffiths towards a lasting political agreement to end the war.