UN envoy says Yemen ports deal is chance for peace talks
The expected pullout of forces from three key ports in Yemen provides an opportunity to move to the major goal of ending the four-year conflict that has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, the U.N. envoy for the war-battered country said Tuesday.
Martin Griffiths told the U.N. Security Council that Yemen’s government and Houthi Shiite rebels demonstrated that they are able to deliver on commitments they made in December in Stockholm by agreeing on the first phase of redeployment from the ports.
He said forces will initially be withdrawn from the smaller ports of Salif and Ras Issa, beginning “possibly” Tuesday or Wednesday. This will be followed by a pullout from the major port of Hodeida and critical parts of the city that will allow access to the Red Sea Mills, a major U.N. storage facility holding enough grain to feed 3.7 million people for a month, he said.