UN Yemen envoy to brief the Security Council on status of Hodeidah truce

UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths is expected to brief the Security Council on a fragile ceasefire in Hodeidah today as government forces report an increase in Houthi attacks and the arrival of rebel reinforcements.

Mr Griffiths, who is in Saudi Arabia, was expected to meet Yemeni President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi yesterday to discuss the next stage of the agreement, before heading to Geneva, a UN source said. Mr Hadi and many of his officials are based in Riyadh.

UN-brokered peace talks in Sweden last month ended with an agreement on a Hodeidah ceasefire deal, which went into effect on December 18, with the warring parties agreeing to withdraw fighters from the area.

Mr Griffiths held talks with the two sides this week to try to salvage the deal.

He landed in the rebel-held capital of Sanaa on Saturday, where he held talks with Houthi officials before flying to Riyadh.

The Houthi-controlled Saba news agency said the meetings were about “obstacles and breaches” to agreements brokered during talks in Sweden.

The UN reported last week that the truce has “largely held” in the province but Yemen’s government has accused the Houthis of endangering the deal.

Yemeni Foreign Minister, Khalid Al Yamani, said Houthi rebels were consolidating their forces in the port city.

“We must devote our efforts to establishing concrete steps to implement the Hodeidah agreement,” Mr Al Yamani said in Riyadh.

He stressed the importance of exerting pressure on the Houthis to comply with the resolutions of the deal.

Mr Al Yamani said Houthi breaches of the agreement would influence the way the government engaged in the next round.

Askar Zael, Yemen’s military attache to Turkey and a member of the government’s delegation to Sweden, told

The National that the government was “cautious about the next round of talks and on the progress the Houthis are making towards implementing the Stockholm deal”.

Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of Foreign Affairs, was sceptical about the Houthis’ commitment to peace.

“The developments in Hodeidah show that the Houthis have no intention of respecting their humanitarian and political commitments,” Dr Gargash said on Twitter.

He said the Arab Coalition “monitors the rebels’ attempts to manipulate and thwart the agreement”.

Dr Gargash said such breaches would not benefit the rebels but would impede progress on a political solution.

The withdrawal of all forces from Hodeidah is a necessary prerequisite for the next phase of Yemen’s political process, he said.

The ceasefire deal calls for international monitors in Hodeidah and the establishment of a Redeployment Co-ordination Committee, chaired by retired Dutch General Patrick Cammaert, to oversee implementation of the accord.

The government fears coastguards in the port may remain loyal to the Houthis.