Griffiths was in Sanaa on Sunday to meet with militia leaders in hopes of removing the obstacles placed by the Houthis on the implementation of the Stockholm Agreement, mainly the redeployment of forces in Hodeidah and its three ports.
Informed sources in Sanaa told Asharq Al-Awsat that Griffiths is in a race against time in implementing the first phase of redeployment in Hodeidah, as part of a deal reached during negotiations between the warring parties and Lt. Gen. Michael Lollesgaard, who heads the UN operation monitoring the broader ceasefire reached in Sweden last December.
A ministerial meeting of the Yemen quartet held in London on April 26 discussed the need for the Yemeni government and Houthis to implement the Hodeidah agreement by May 15, ahead of a UN Security Council session on Yemen.
Also last month, Griffiths and Lollesgaard visited Riyadh and presented to Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi a new draft plan on the latest arrangements in the province of Hodeidah.
Observers expected that Griffiths whould push Houthis to speed up the implementation of the redeployment plan and warn them from the consequences of paralyzing the deal.
They said if the two UN officials fail to receive the backing of the legitimate government and Houthis over a vision on security and administration in the port city, then any solution in Yemen would face a dead-end amid a possible return of military operations.
Official government sources accuse Houthis of continuing to deploy their militias from Sanaa, Rima, Mahweet and Amran towards Hodeidah, despite accepting the Stockholm deal.
The first phase of redeployment involves a pullback of several kilometers by the Houthis and coalition forces, and the second involves a withdrawal of 18 to 30 kilometers, depending on the location and fighters.
Meanwhile, the World Food Program said it gained access Sunday to vital food aid on the outskirts of Hodeidah a month after postponing its mission for security reasons, AFP reported.
WFP spokesman Herve Verhoosel said a WFP-led mission and a technical team of the Red Sea mills company gained access to the food aid.
"The technical team will remain at the site to clean and service the milling equipment in preparation for the milling and eventual distribution of the wheat," Verhoosel told AFP in an emailed statement.
Sources familiar with the matter also told Reuters that the WFP-led team traveled from the government-held southern port city of Aden along the western coast, avoiding Houthi-controlled areas after the group denied them access from the north, which it controls.
