UN observes Houthi fighters pull out from three ports in line with Stockholm accord

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The first day of a withdrawal of forces by Yemen’s Houthi movement from three of the country’s Red Sea ports went “in accordance with established plans”, the head of a UN mission to monitor the deal said on Sunday.

“All three ports were monitored simultaneously by United Nations teams as the military forces left the ports and the Coast Guard took over responsibility for security,” Lt Gen Michael Lollesgaard, head of the UN Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC), said in a statement.

Yemen’s government has asked the UN to give timeframes for the next steps of the peace deal, after Houthi forces began withdrawing in the most significant advance yet for efforts to end the four-year war and relieve civilians of poverty and hunger.

In line with an accord in Sweden last year, the Iran-backed Houthi movement began on Saturday a unilateral pullout from the three Red Sea ports used for grain, oil, commerce and aid.

Local coastguards have taken over security at the Saleef, Ras Isa and Hodeidah ports, according to the UN, which is supervising operations there.

Some officials from the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised Yemeni government dismissed the pullout as a “show”, but Yemeni government negotiator Sadiq Dweid acknowledged it marked the start of implementing the Stockholm accord. The war has killed tens of thousands of people and left millions on the brink of famine.

Dweid tweeted late on Saturday that he had held a positive meeting with the chief UN observer, agreeing that the pullout should lead to a roadmap to implement a UN mechanism for inspecting ships, de-mining land and removing military installations.

While the Houthi withdrawal is encouraging for foreign powers pushing to reopen humanitarian corridors, displaced Hodeidah residents said they were not ready to return.

“We fled the war and I do not want to go back unless it ends, I fear death,” said Sami, an 11-year-old who lives with his family in a graveyard in the capital Aden.

“War destroyed everything – no work and no security,” said Abdul Rahman Taher, a 34-year-old man forced from his home in Hodeidah and now washing cars in Aden.

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Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, leaders of the coalition backing President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government, have so far not commented on the Houthi ports withdrawal.

Under plans to avert a full-scale assault, the Houthis are to pull back 5km (3 miles) from the ports between 11 and 14 May. Coalition forces, currently massed 4km from Hodeidah port on the edges of the city, are to retreat 1km from two flashpoint districts.

In a second phase, both sides would pull troops 18km outside the city and move heavy weapons 30km away.

Aid organisation the International Rescue Committee said the Houthi move was a positive step, but a wider peace deal was needed to avert violence elsewhere.

“Among our biggest concern is ensuring sustained access to Hodeidah port,” said Sultana Begum, advocacy manager in Yemen for the Norwegian Refugee Council . “Further military escalation risks cutting the supply line of vital food, fuel and medicines.”