Date: Feb 12, 2019 Source: The Daily Star Grain stores in Hodeida at risk of rotting, U.N. says DUBAI: The U.N. special envoy to Yemen Monday that said the urgency of accessing grain stores trapped in a front-line position in the port city of Hodeida was increasing as the food was “at risk of rotting.” The World Food Program grain stores at the Red Sea Mills are enough to feed 3.7 million people for a month and have been inaccessible for more than five months, Martin Griffiths said. Yemen’s nearly 5-year-old war has killed tens of thousands, collapsed the economy and brought millions of people to the brink of famine. The U.N. is pushing for a cease-fire and troop withdrawal from Hodeida, the main entry point for most of Yemen’s imports, agreed in December in Sweden. Accessing the 51,000 tons of U.N. wheat and milling equipment at the front-line flashpoint is a key aim of ongoing peace talks. Yemen’s conflict pits the Iran-aligned Houthi movement against a Saudi-backed coalition trying to restore the government of Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi after it was ousted from power in Sanaa by the Houthis in 2014. Talks between warring parties last week produced what the U.N. called a “preliminary compromise” on how to withdraw troops, although the deal has not yet been finally agreed. Griffiths said he was encouraged by the engagement of all sides in talks to find a way of accessing the mills. “We emphasize that ensuring access to the mills is a shared responsibility among the parties to the conflict in Yemen. With safe, unfettered and sustained access, the United Nations can make this urgently needed food available to people in need,” the statement said. The joint statement between Griffiths and U.N. aid chief Mark Lowcock said the U.N. was scaling up its plans to provide food assistance to nearly 12 million people across Yemen struggling to meet their daily food needs. Lowcock issued a public plea Thursday to the Houthis to allow relief groups to cross front lines to reach the Red Sea Mills, warning the grain could spoil.