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| Arabia |
| Houthis begin withdrawal from Hodeida port |
| 2018-12-31 |
| [DAWN] Yemeni rebels have begun to withdraw from the port of Hodeida, the country’s key aid lifeline, under an agreement reached in Sweden earlier this month, a UN official said on Saturday. The official said the Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews... rebels began to pull back from the Red Sea port at midnight on Friday. The rebel withdrawal from the port, which is the point of entry for food aid to some 14 million Yemenis UN agencies say are on the brink of famine, is a key part of a ceasefire that went into effect on Dec 18. Pro-government forces are also supposed to pull back from parts of the city they recaptured in an offensive they launched with the backing of a Saudi-led coalition on June 13. The Houthis began "the first phase of redeployment from the Hodeida port", a rebel official told the Houthi-run Saba news agency. The rebels held a ceremony to mark the occasion, a correspondent reported. The UN Security Council last week unanimously approved a resolution authorising the deployment of observers to oversee a hard-won truce for Hodeida that was agreed by the Saudi-backed government and the rebels in Sweden this month. Retired Dutch general Patrick Cammaert is heading a joint truce monitoring committee, which includes both government and rebel representatives, and chaired its first meeting this week. The UN-led panel addressed "the first phase of the implementation of the agreement ... based on ceasefire, confidence building measures to deliver humanitarian assistance and redeployment", a UN statement said. It added that the panel would convene again on Jan 1 to discuss "detailed plans for full redeployment". |
| Posted by:Fred |