UAE minister: UN close to Hodeida withdrawal agreement
Friday 03/May/2019 - 03:14 PM
Reem Al Hashemy
The UAE’s Minister of State for International Cooperation, Reem Al Hashemy, has said that she understood that the UN was “close to some form” of agreement in regards to troop withdrawal from Hodeida.
Rival parties in Yemen have been deadlocked over implementing the Sweden agreement which was reached in December. It called for an immediate Al Houthi withdrawal from the Red Sea port city of Hodeida, which the Iran-backed militants have failed to do, thus far.
“What we understand from the UN is that they are close to some form of agreement, so we are really relying on the promise of what that withdrawal would look like so it could unlock things,” she explained.
“I also think that with our continued conversations with the Yemeni side and members of the UN community, we are trying to get closer.
“Has anything happened yet, though, since the Sweden agreement? No, but we have to continue believing that we will slowly get there,” Al Hashemy added.
The UAE announced $500 million in aid for Yemen for this year, plus an extra $100 million for the month of Ramadan.
The Sweden agreement was the first real successful agreement between Yemen’s internationally-recognised government backed by a Saudi-led coalition and the Iran-backed Al Houthi militants.
However, the government has accused the militants of being disgenuine in their efforts to hand over control of the Hodeida port to neutral parties as agreed on in the pact.
They say the ceasefire has been violated 970 times by the militants and have called on the international community to hold them accountable for the breaches.
A Saudi-led coalition joined the war in 2015 after an Al Houthi coup unseated Yemen’s legitimate government.
Yemeni President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi was placed under house arrest but later escaped, setting up temporary government headquarters in the southern city of Aden.
Since then, the coalition was able to win back large swathes of territory from the militants, but main population centers remain under Al Houthi control.
A lightening offensive by Yemeni forces last year was able to liberate much of the Al Houthi-controlled territory along strategic Red Sea, but stopped just short of the Hodeida port, the main conduit for goods and aid.
International pressure was placed on Yemeni forces to pause their assault because of the major humanitarian concerns such a battle would have.
However, the government says Al Houthis are using the port to illegally smuggle in weapons from Iran to sustain their military efforts.
Nonetheless, government forces agreed to a halt their offensive, but reserved their right to resume it if peace talks fail.
