Yemeni Presidential calls for UN pressure for Houthi withdrawal from Hodeida
Yemen’s Presidential Command Council on Thursday called on the United Nations to pressure the Houthis to withdraw from Hodeida and fully implement the terms of the Stockholm agreement.
This came during a meeting between Brigadier General Tareq Saleh, deputy head of the Presidential Command Council, and General Michael Burry, head of the United Nations Mission in Support of the Hodeida Agreement in Aden.
Saleh reiterated the Presidential Command Council’s support for the efforts of the United Nations Mission in Support of the Hodeida Agreement to implement all the provisions of the Stockholm Agreement, in order to end the suffering of citizens and establish peace and stability in the province.
He noted that Houthi militias continued to abandon the implementation of the Stockholm Agreement, continued violations of the ceasefire, continued shelling of villages, homes and farms, and the laying of mines and explosive devices that victimize civilians.
The Vice-President of the Presidential Council called on the UN mission to put pressure on Houthi militias to implement the provisions of the Stockholm Agreement and withdraw from the city and ports of Hodeida.
He also called for allocating revenues from the port of Hodeida to pay employees’ salaries, exchange prisoners, work on an urgent basis to open the Heis Al-Jarrahi road for its part, and restore communication services to the directorates of al-Khawkhah and Hays.
He stressed the need for a transparent investigation into the assassination of Colonel Mohammed Al-Salehi, the liaison officer for the government side of the UN Redeployment Coordination Committee, by a sniper shot by Houthi militias while he was performing his duties.
He also touched on the government’s commitment to the UN truce and the steps taken to implement its provisions by allowing the arrival of 12 oil derivative ships through the port of Hodeida since the truce came into effect, as well as the opening of humanitarian corridors and roads to facilitate the movement of civilians, the most recent of which is the vital road linking Taiz Hodeida, Heis and Al-Jarrahi.
During his first meeting with the Presidential Command Council, which assumed power last April, the head of the UN mission expressed his appreciation for the steps taken by the government side with regard to the implementation of the Stockholm Agreement and the humanitarian truce.
He stressed his keenness to strengthen communication and coordination in the coming period to move the Stockholm Agreement forward and support peace efforts.
The United Nations Mission in Support of the Hodeida Agreement is a civilian observer mission established by the United Nations to monitor the Stockholm Agreement signed on December 18, 2018 between the Houthi and the Yemeni government, which stipulated that militias withdraw from the three ports and the city and hand them over to local forces.
On November 10, coalition-backed forces evacuated all Stockholm Agreement sites around the city and port of Hodeida, dropping ball into Houthi and UN stadiums together to implement the agreement.
Instead of a similar withdrawal, Houthi militias invaded all areas vacated by the joint forces, torpedoing the agreement, observers said, and leaving the UN mission with significant challenges in its ability to revive it.
