Iran Press/Middle East: United Nations teams are overseeing the withdrawal, a step taken by the Houthi government to resuscitate the peace deal which had been stalled for months.
Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, the head of Yemen's Supreme Revolutionary Committee, said the intention to unilaterally redeploy from the ports was due to the Saudi coalition’s refusal to implement the truce agreement reached between Yemen's warring sides in Stockholm last December, Reuters reported.
Under the deal, representatives from the Houthis and Yemen's Saudi-backed former government agreed to withdraw their troops from Hodeidah 's main port and two other nearby ports, as well as Hodeidah city and allow deployment of UN monitors.
Al-Houthi said he holds the UN responsible for the humanitarian crisis in Yemen because of its failure to put an end to the blockade, the closure of Sana'a airport and disruption of salary payments.
On Friday, the UN's Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC) said that Yemen’s Ansarullah movement has agreed to unilaterally withdraw its forces from three key ports, including Hodeidah over four days.
The redeployment, it said, should allow the UN to take 'a leading role in supporting the Red Sea Ports Corporation in managing the ports' and to enhance checks on cargoes.
In Stockholm, it was hoped that the redeployment would take place in January, but its implementation has repeatedly been stalled due to a lack of trust between the rival parties.
Hodeidah a lifeline for millions of Yemenis, has seen some of the heaviest fighting in the four-year Saudi aggression against the impoverished nation.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE launched the Hodeidah offensive in June 2018, but they have faced strong resistance put up by Yemeni armed forces – led by the Houthis -- and the city’s residents.
Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched the war on Yemen in March 2015 with the aim of crushing the Houthis and bringing the Riyadh-backed former regime back to power. They have failed to achieve either of the objectives.105/205
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