YEMEN’S WARRING PARTIES AGREE ON HODEIDAH CEASEFIRE, UN SAYS
▶ Houthi rebels have agreed to withdraw from vital Red Sea city and its harbour
Yemen’s warring parties agreed to withdraw all forces from Hodeidah governorate and its vital harbours as part of a wider ceasefire agreement, UN chief Antonio Guterres said on Thursday as UN-backed peace talks in the rural Swedish town of Rimbo drew to a close.
Mr Guterres also said a framework for political negotiations would be discussed at the next round of talks between the Iranbacked Houthis and the Saudi-backed government of President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi.
Thursday’s landmark agreement was the first time in years the warring parties have taken significant strides towards building peace and alleviating the suffering of the Yemeni people, Yemeni Foreign Minister Khalid Al Yamani told The
National after the announcement.
“We have shown the international community that we are serious about achieving peace and ending the suffering of millions of Yemenis,” he said, describing Thursday’s development as a “huge achievement”.
UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Gargash described the development as “encouraging” and said “the diplomatic progress was made possible by sustained military pressure against the Houthis along the Red Sea and around Hodeidah”.
In a briefing before the talks closed, Mr Guterres said the ceasefire agreement covered all of Hodeidah governorate and demands the “withdrawal of all forces”, from the city and Hodeidah’s main port.
“In the harbour the UN will assume a very important monitoring role and in the city the order will be maintained by local forces,” he said, referring to forces recognised by the Yemeni government.
He said he expected forces to start withdrawing “within days” from three key ports in Hodeidah governorate before government and rebel forces begin disengaging in the city. The three ports, named by the UN chief, are Al Hodeidah, Al Salif and Ras Issa. They are the main entry points for food and aid shipments to Yemen.
A redeployment co-ordination committee including individuals from both sides will oversee the ceasefire and withdrawal, according to the agreement. It will be chaired by the UN and report weekly to the UN Security Council.
International monitors will be stationed in Hodeidah city and the three ports, and all armed forces are scheduled to pull back completely within 21 days of the ceasefire coming into force. Another joint committee overseen by the United Nations will set up humanitarian corridors to Taez, Yemen’s third city.
Yemen’s foreign minister said the agreement was something to celebrate.
“The victory here is that the militias are going to withdrawal from Hodeidah. This is new and very important and we hope that the Yemeni people are able to celebrate,” Khaled Al Yamani told The National.
He cautioned, however, that a military withdrawal from Hodeidah remained “hypothetical” until the rebels pull out. He said the government and the coalition will give rebels a period of 20 days to withdraw from Hodeidah and allow forces affiliated with the Yemeni government to be stationed around the governorate.
“This is a testing time for the international community and the Security Council, we will wait 20 days and we will see how far we can go to implement the Hodeidah initiative,” Mr Al Yamani said.
The Red Sea port city has been the objective of a government offensive against Houthi rebels since June. Continued fighting in the port city could trigger a new humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where the UN estimates 14 million people face imminent starvation.
An end to fighting in Hodeidah, which is home to 150,000 people and a vital conduit for aid across Yemen, will
help delivery of humanitarian relief to the area’s population.
Thursday’s announcement capped a week of talks between Yemen’s warring parties in Sweden, during which rivals also agreed on a prisoner-exchange deal. However, there has not been agreement on a ceasefire in the rest of Yemen beyond Hodeidah, the UN chief said. An agreement on Sanaa airport was expected within a week, he said.
Rebel negotiator Mohammed Abdelsalam said the Houthis were happy with what had been achieved in the consultations and rebels have agreed in principle on a UN role in Sanaa airport, which would include carrying out safety and inspection checks.
No agreement has been reached on a political framework. The issue will be discussed during a second round of talks at the end of next month, Mr Guterres said, lauding rival parties for what he called “an important step” and “real progress towards future talks to end the conflict”.
Mr Al Yamani said his government was not interested in sidelining rebels from Yemen’s political future. “The Houthis will be part of the Yemen’s political framework,” he said.
But he demanded that they cut ties with Iran and its proxies before the government considers their participation in Cabinet.
“We will live together under one roof, even though we may have political or religious differences, but Yemen is for all,” he said.
In a symbolic gesture, Mr Al Yamani and Mr Abdelsalam shook hands to loud applause at the closing session.
“This is what I said to the [UN Secretary General] when he tried to get me closer to Mohammed Abdelsalam: ‘You don’t have to get us closer, because he’s my brother.’ Despite his coup on the state, his destruction of the country and his responsibility in triggering the humanitarian disaster – he remains my brother,” Mr Al Yamani wrote on Twitter.
The ambassadors to Yemen from the five permanent mem- ber states of the UN Security Council issued a joint statement after the announcement of the deal, in which they commended “both parties for setting aside their differences, engaging in good faith and co-operating with the special envoy to achieve progress in a number of important areas, which will have an immediate and significant positive impact upon the lives of the people of Yemen, and serve to build trust between the parties for an enduring comprehensive political settlement”.
Eight days of negotiations in the tiny Swedish town of Rimbo have brought us to this moment. The agreement among Yemen’s warring parties on a ceasefire in the vital port city of Hodeidah is the biggest breakthrough to date in a war that has claimed more than 10,000 lives since 2015. On Monday, Martin Griffiths, UN special envoy for Yemen, promised “tangible agreements will be announced by the end of this round”. He has not disappointed. Earlier this week, Yemen’s government and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels agreed to swap thousands of prisoners – an unprecedented confidence-building measure aimed at advancing peace talks. And the Hodeidah agreement holds even greater significance. The Houthis will, the deal states, withdraw from the harbour and city, leaving local forces to maintain security, which the Saudi-led coalition has demanded for more than a year. The UN – whose attempts to secure a peaceful solution have been vindicated in Sweden this week – will help facilitate the flow of food and aid to civilians in the city and far beyond. In a conflict where starvation has killed an estimated 80,000 children, the significance of that cannot be overstated.
This is a moment to be seized for the people of Yemen, who have suffered for too long. With numerous concessions made, the obstacles to peace are being dismantled one by one. The coalition, which intervened in 2015 at the behest of the legitimate government of Abdrabu Mansur Hadi, has repeatedly expressed its commitment to a political solution. But there now appears to be significant momentum on all sides for a political, rather than military, solution. And with this deal, we have a framework for further negotiations, expected to take place in late January. In September, the Houthis failed even to attend UN-led negotiations in Geneva. As the Rimbo talks come to a close, the immense progress is plain for all to see.
In the past year, it has become clear that peace depends on Hodeidah, a crucial entry point for humanitarian aid under tight Houthi control since 2015. As UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr Anwar Gargash, said on Twitter, this diplomatic leap was facilitated by a campaign of sustained military pressure on Hodeidah. There is still work to be done to usher in a lasting political solution, including re-opening Sanaa airport. Internally fractured, the Houthis have, in the past, reneged on agreements. That cannot happen again. Brought together in a small and icy town, delegates from both sides have been mixing freely. And the goodwill on both sides has translated into real progress. The eyes of the world are now on Yemen – and the next round of talks. All sides must now move forward with renewed dedication. The people of Yemen deserve nothing less.