Britain urges ‘stronger measures’ at UN if no progress on Hodeidah deal
The United Nations’ Security Council should consider “stronger measures” if there was no progress in the coming weeks on a deal between Yemen’s warring parties on a key port, Britain said yesterday, as the UN mediator admitted it was “taking longer than we had hoped.”
In an illustration of the delay, UN Yemen envoy Martin Griffiths told the council both sides had accepted a detailed operational plan for step one in a withdrawal of forces from the Red Sea port and city of Hodeidah — two months after the world body announced an initial deal on that measure.
“Let us be clear that when — and I hope it is when, not if — these redeployments happen they will be the first voluntary
withdrawals of forces in this long conflict,” Griffiths told the 15-member council. “Of course it has taken longer than we had hoped but that it should happen at all is extremely welcome.”
The Houthi movement and the Saudi-backed government initially agreed in December to withdraw troops by Jan 7 from Hodeidah — a lifeline for millions facing famine — under a truce aimed at averting a fullscale assault on the port and paving the way for negotiations to end the four-year war.
Although the ceasefire agreed for Hodeidah largely holds, violence continues elsewhere and has escalated in recent weeks.
Britain’s UN ambassador Karen Pierce said the lack of implementation of the deal reached in Sweden is “very worrying.”
“The stakes are too high for us to let that fail and the council in our view should be ready to take stronger measures if there’s no progress by our next meeting,” Pierce told the council, which traditionally meets once a month on Yemen. Griffiths did not say when the first stage of troop withdrawals from Hodeidah could start, adding that talks would continue on phase two of a redeployment and the status of local security forces.
Acting US ambassador to the United Nations Jonathan Cohen warned the Houthis that Washington would be “watching closely to see if they make good on that agreement” to phase one.