The United Nations has reassured the Yemeni government that the implementation of the first phase of the Hodeidah truce agreement will undergo comprehensive verification. Phase one of the implementation includes total redeployment of armed troops based in the Ras Issa and Salif ports.
Each of the heads of the UN observer mission in Yemen general Michael Lollesgaard and UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths had presented the Yemeni government with guarantees that there would be no transition into the second phase of the plan until the Iran-backed Houthi militias having complied with all items in the first phase, Yemen's Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani told Asharq Al-Awsat.
The UN officials have also reaffirmed that manipulation and a made-up handover of the ports will not be allowed.
“Gen. Lollesgaard managed to develop a very simple two-stage plan. The first part of the plan is that the militias withdraw from the Salif and Ras Issa ports. The second step is the complete withdrawal from Hodeidah and the opening of a humanitarian corridor,” Yamani told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Yemen’s top diplomat did not hide his concerns on Houthis seeking to redefine terms and conditions agreed upon in December last year, when the government and insurgency delegations inked a UN-brokered truce deal for Hodeidah.
He described this stage as a big and revealing test for Houthi commitment to agreements.
As for the prisoner swap, also mentioned as a vital part of the Hodeidah deal, Yamani said consensus in this file remains absent.
“Houthi militants are employing Iran-styled tactics to undermine the deal. It was agreed to release everyone in exchange for everyone and that no one is left in prisons. But Houthis are citing different numbers in each session,” Yamani said, stressing that President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi views the prisoner exchange as a non-negotiable humanitarian question that is not up for political compromise.
“We are ready to work with the United Nations and the Red Cross to release everyone,” Yamani reaffirmed.
