ANSD : Yemen govt accuses rebels of violating Hodeida truce

SUN 24 - 11 - 2024

Date: Jan 25, 2019
Source: The Daily Star

Yemen govt accuses rebels of violating Hodeida truce

_{Agence France Presse}
RIYADH: Yemen’s embattled government accused rival rebels Thursday of failing to abide by a truce reached between the warring parties at U.N.-sponsored peace talks in Sweden last month. “The legitimate government remains committed to the Sweden accords,” state-run Saba news agency quoted Yemeni President Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi as saying.

Hadi accused Yemen’s Houthi rebels of failing to respect an agreement on the flashpoint port city of Hodeida, controlled by the insurgents since 2014, Saba said.

The news comes as reports surface that the U.N. is looking to replace the head of a monitoring mission to Hodeida, a lifeline to millions of Yemenis dependent on its imports to survive.

The United Nations’ Yemen envoy, Martin Griffiths, met with Hadi in Riyadh Thursday, after holding talks with rebels in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

Also at the Riyadh meeting was retired Dutch general Patrick Cammaert, who heads a monitoring team tasked with overseeing the Hodeida truce.

Diplomatic sources Wednesday said that the U.N. was looking to replace Cammaert.

“In due time, he will leave. He is in this position until a successor is found,” one of the sources told AFP.

The Houthis, who control Hodeida, have accused Cammaert of not being up to the task and of pursuing “other agendas.”

Cammaert and members of the United Nations’ monitoring team came under fire in Hodeida last week but were unharmed.

The United Nations did not identify who was behind the shooting.

Hodeida was for months the main front line in the Yemen war after government forces supported by Saudi Arabia and its allies launched an offensive to capture it in June.

But a precarious calm has largely held in the city since the ceasefire agreement came into force on Dec. 18.

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