UN team verifies Houthi pullback from Hodeida

The United Nations monitoring team in Yemen on Sunday verified the Houthis have withdrawn from three ports in western Red Sea Hodeida Province, Xinhua News Agency reported.

"The first day of the redeployment of Houthi forces from the three ports of Hodeida, Salif and Ras-Issa went in accordance with established plans," Michael Lollesgaard, chair of the Redeployment Coordination Committee, said in a statement.

"All three ports were monitored simultaneously by UN teams as the military forces left the ports and the Coast Guard took over responsibility for security," Lollesgaard said. "The formal verification by the UN of this first redeployment will take place at the three ports on Tuesday."

On Saturday, the Houthi rebels unilaterally withdrew from the three ports of Hodeida.

UN spokesman Farhan Haq confirmed to reporters at the UN headquarters on Saturday that the Houthi withdrawal "has begun".

According to Agence France-Presse, Yemen's government had accused rebels on Sunday of a "policy of deception" after they announced the withdrawal in a long-delayed move agreed under a cease-fire deal last year.

Sources close to the Houthis said the ports were handed over to Coast Guard personnel who were in charge before the rebels took over Hodeida almost five years ago.

The UN-sponsored Stockholm Agreement, the first step toward a comprehensive political solution, was reached in December and focused on the port city of Hodeida, the entry lifeline for most of Yemen's commercial imports and humanitarian aid.

A hot spot since 2017

Hodeida has been the focus of clashes since 2017.

The government forces, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, have advanced to the southern outskirts of the port city, but the forces have halted a major offensive to recapture Hodeida to pave the way for peace efforts.

But experts said it was too soon to say if the withdrawal represented genuine progress.

"The (Sweden) agreement is very difficult to execute because the lines are blurry and each side interprets it the way it wants to," said Yemen expert Farea al-Muslimi, a visiting fellow at the London-based Chatham House think tank.

Xinhua