SANAA, Yemen, July 14 (NNN-SABA) – Representatives from both Yemeni warring parties are scheduled to meet on a UN ship on the Red Sea, within the next few days, to resume discussions on the implementation of a stalled forces pullout from Yemen’s main sea port of Hodeidah, as agreed upon at a Dec cease-fire deal, sources from both rival parties said.
Hodeidah is the main Yemeni port city on the Red Sea and key lifeline entry of most of Yemen’s commercial imports and humanitarian aid.
The more than four-year grinding war has pushed over 20 million people to the verge of starvation.
The Iran-allied Houthi rebels control much of Hodeidah, while the Saudi-backed government troops have advanced to the south-eastern districts.
The United Nations is overseeing the deal reached in Stockholm in Dec, last year. The deal was seen as the first phase towards achieving a comprehensive political solution to end over four years of civil war.
According to the deal, both warring parties should withdraw their forces from Hodeidah by Jan 7, to avert a major attack on the port city, but both warring parties failed to implement the deal, putting the peace agreement in jeopardy and threatening a major battle that could lead to famine.
The meeting on a UN ship came, as efforts to convene the meeting in territory held by the government forces or the rebels have failed, because both sides are not willing to cross the front-line to meet each other, according to the sources.– NNN-SABA
