Iran-backed Houthi militias have continued to violate the UN-sponsored ceasefire in Hodeidah and target joint forces and residential neighborhoods.
The Yemeni legitimate government, meanwhile, has linked the return of liaison officers to joint observation points with a number of measures.
Yemeni Foreign Minister Mohammad al-Hadhrami said the decision to suspend the work of the government team in the Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC) in Hodeidah came in response to the militias’ continued refusal to implement the Hodeidah Agreement.
During his meeting Wednesday with ambassadors of Britain, US, France and Russia in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, Hadhrami pointed out that Houthis are hindering the United Nations mission and have targeted the member of the pro-government liaison officers at joint observation posts, Colonel Mohammed Abdurrab Sharaf Al-Soleihi.
In order for the government team to resume its work, Hadhrami stressed that a number of measures must be taken.
These include securing observation points, removing landmines, pressuring Houthis to allow the deployment of UN monitors at all observation points and moving the headquarters of the UN Yemen Observation Mission (UNYOM) to a neutral location.
The FM also stipulated that the militias allow UN patrols to resume their work, which has been suspended since October, open safe humanitarian corridors in Hodeidah and lift restrictions on the movement of the UNYOM head and members.
“The government had shown so much patience versus the Houthi maximalist avoidance of the Hodeidah Agreement for one year,” Hadhrami said.
He called on the UN to assume its responsibility in ensuring the safety of the government team involved in implementing the Agreement.
Under the UN-sponsored deal signed in December 2018 in the Swedish capital, Houthis are compelled to remove landmines, to withdraw from Hodeidah’s seaports and open roads from and to the city in exchange for the Yemeni government halting a major military offensive that had reached Hodeidah city.
