UN says Houthis to redeploy from Yemen ports

Sat 11 May 2019:

Yemen’s Houthi group has agreed to unilaterally redeploy forces out of three key ports between May 11 and May 14 to pave the way for United Nations management of the ports under a UN-brokered peace deal, a UN committee said on Friday. Lt. Gen. Michael Lollesgaard, who heads a UN mission to monitor the deal, said the Houthis intended to start withdrawing on Saturday from the ports of Hodeidah, Salif and Ras-Issa.
 In a statement, the Redeployment Coordination Committee said it was important that the move be followed by “the committed, transparent and sustained actions of the parties to fully deliver on their obligations”.

The Iran-aligned Houthi movement and the Arab coalition-backed Yemen government initially agreed in December to withdraw troops by January 7 from Hodeidah – a lifeline for millions facing famine – under a truce aimed at averting a full-scale assault on the port and paving the way for negotiations to end the four-year war.  Yemeni minister: Houthi offer inaccurate, misleading 

The Yemeni information minister, Moammar al-Eryani, said on Twitter that the Houthi offer for redeployment from the three ports  is inaccurate and misleading.
Al-Eryani added that any unilateral withdrawal that does not allow for joint monitoring and verification is unacceptable.

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