Yemen’s Houthis, Pro-Hadi Forces Meet Aboard UN Ship
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The head of the UN mission in Yemen launched talks between Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement and forces loyal to fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi aboard a boat in the Red Sea on Sunday aimed at shoring up a ceasefire, a report said.
Retired Dutch General Patrick Cammaert chaired the meeting aboard a UN vessel docked off the coast of the flashpoint city of Hudaydah after Houthis refused to hold talks in areas under the control of the ex-government, AFP reported.
The meeting would address the implementation of an agreement reached in Sweden in December that calls for a ceasefire in Hudaydah, a pullback of forces from the port city and the opening of humanitarian corridors.
The Red Sea port is the entry point for the bulk of Yemen's imported goods and humanitarian aid, providing a lifeline to millions in the Arab world's poorest country.
The UN said in a statement that the parties would resume discussions on the Sweden agreement on Sunday.
It is the third meeting of a joint committee on implementing the deal, which has been hailed as a major step toward ending Saudi Arabia’s devastating four-year war.
Some 8.4 million Yemenis are facing starvation as a result of the Saudi-led aggression, although the United Nations has warned that will probably rise to 14 million.
Three-quarters of impoverished Yemen’s population, or 22 million people, require aid.