Informed sources at the Yemeni Quartet said that the group will meet again in London in the coming few days to set a deadline for implementing the UN-sponsored Stockholm agreement, signed last December in the Swedish capital.
The meeting is expected to focus on getting Iran-backed Houthi militias to completely redeploy from the strategic Red Sea port city, Hodeidah.
Other sources, however, suggested that United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths would not attend the meeting and that it would be exclusively held among senior officials from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and the United Kingdom, often represented by Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
Sources also pointed out that the meeting will also discuss Houthi commitment to agreements stipulated in the UN-brokered ceasefire deal and the group’s ongoing aggression against civilian facilities, both in Yemen and in neighboring countries.
The last meeting of the kind was held in London on April 26 and discussed the delay in the implementation of the Hodeidah Agreement caused by Houthis. It also discussed Iran's persistent support of Houthi militias, providing them with missiles and drones for targeting the territory of neighboring countries.
In parallel, other sources said Lieutenant General Michael Lollesgaard, who heads the UN monitoring mission in Hodeidah, was said to be preparing for a meeting of government and Houthi delegations. The sources suggested that the meeting would be held on board the observer ship.
On the other hand, the Saudi-led Arab Coalition, which backs Yemen’s internationally-recognized government, said Houthi militias has been exploiting their Hodeidah presence as a stage for launching terrorist operations, ballistic missiles and drones in violation of the Stockholm agreement and undermining political efforts to make it successful.
Arab Coalition Spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki, in a press release, confirmed that Arab Coalition forces had recently downed a drone aircraft in Yemen’s Hajjah Governorate.
