Houthi rebels withdraw from Hodeida, two other Yemeni ports
The withdrawal began at 10am (0700 GMT), according to the head of the Houthis’ Supreme Revolutionary Committee, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi.
The UN’s Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC), led by Danish Lieutenant General Michael Lollesgaard, head of the UN observer team in Hodeida, drew up the redeployment plans under a pact agreed last December in Stockholm, Sweden, the first major breakthrough in peace efforts to end a war that has killed tens of thousands and pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.
Under the plan, the Houthis will make an “initial unilateral redeployment” between May 11 and May 14 from the ports of Saleef, which is used for grain, and Ras Isa, used for oil, as well as the country’s main port of Hodeida, according to a RCC statement.
At Stockholm, it was hoped the redeployment would happen in January, but its implementation has repeatedly stalled on a lack of trust between the combatants: the Iran-aligned Houthis and a coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, of the internationally recognised Yemeni government and other forces.
Al-Houthi said earlier on Saturday that his group’s intention to unilaterally redeploy from the ports was a result of the coalition’s refusal to implement the Stockholm Agreement.
The UN mission will monitor the redeployment, a first step towards concluding the peace agreement, the UN statement said, adding that it must be followed by “the committed, transparent and sustained actions of the parties to fully deliver on their obligations”.
The redeployment should allow the United Nations to take “a leading role in supporting the Red Sea Ports Corporation in managing the ports” and to enhance UN checks on cargoes. The Saudi-backed Yemeni government did not state whether their side would make a reciprocal move.
They are also expected to leave positions around the outskirts of Hodeida in the initial redeployment, before a second phase in which both sides pull back further.
The spokesman for the Yemeni government’s delegation to the RCC, Sadiq Dweid, said on Twitter that a Houthi withdrawal is “the first step of the first stage. We support the implementation of the agreement”.
A ‘show to disinform the international community’
However, Moammar al-Iryani, Yemen’s information minister, lambasted the Houthi pullout as a “show” meant to “disinform the international community”. “What happened today is a flagrant show, a group of (Houthi) militiamen left (the city) and they were replaced by others wearing coast guard police uniforms,” he told Reuters.
Yemen’s Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani criticised the Houthi offer to redeploy on Twitter, calling it “misleading” and unacceptable if it did not allow for “joint monitoring and verification” as stipulated by the December pact.
The Sunni Muslim coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates say the Houthis use the ports to smuggle weapons. The Iran-aligned Houthis say the government would try to choke them off if it gained control.
Yemeni government representative Dweid said his side would hold the United Nations responsible for implementing the December pact “as agreed in terms of verification, monitoring, and the removal of mines, obstacles and military installations”.
Western states, some of which supply arms and intelligence to the coalition, are pressing for an end to the conflict, seen in the region as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Last month UN special envoy Martin Griffiths told Reuters the Saudi-backed government and the Houthi group had formally agreed a first phase of troop redeployments, while discussions were still underway for the second phase.
Humanitarian officials have long pleaded with Yemen’s warring sides to spare Hodeida, a lifeline for the crippled economy, dependent on the World Food Programme’s biggest aid operation to feed more than 10 million people.
(FRANCE 24 with AP, REUTERS)