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Dubai: The UAE’s Minister of State for International Cooperation, Reem Al Hashemy, has said that she understood that the UN was “close to some form” of agreement in regards to troop withdrawal from Hodeida.
Rival parties in Yemen have been deadlocked over implementing the Sweden agreement which was reached in December. It called for an immediate Al Houthi withdrawal from the Red Sea port city of Hodeida, which the Iran-backed militants have failed to do, thus far.
“What we understand from the UN is that they are close to some form of agreement, so we are really relying on the promise of what that withdrawal would look like so it could unlock things,” she explained.
“I also think that with our continued conversations with the Yemeni side and members of the UN community, we are trying to get closer.
“Has anything happened yet, though, since the Sweden agreement? No, but we have to continue believing that we will slowly get there,” Al Hashemy added.
The UAE announced $500 million in aid for Yemen for this year, plus an extra $100 million for the month of Ramadan.
The Sweden agreement was the first real successful agreement between Yemen’s internationally-recognised government backed by a Saudi-led coalition and the Iran-backed Al Houthi militants.
However, the government has accused the militants of being disgenuine in their efforts to hand over control of the Hodeida port to neutral parties as agreed on in the pact.
They say the ceasefire has been violated 970 times by the militants and have called on the international community to hold them accountable for the breaches.
A Saudi-led coalition joined the war in 2015 after an Al Houthi coup unseated Yemen’s legitimate government.
Yemeni President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi was placed under house arrest but later escaped, setting up temporary government headquarters in the southern city of Aden.
Since then, the coalition was able to win back large swathes of territory from the militants, but main population centers remain under Al Houthi control.
A lightening offensive by Yemeni forces last year was able to liberate much of the Al Houthi-controlled territory along strategic Red Sea, but stopped just short of the Hodeida port, the main conduit for goods and aid.
International pressure was placed on Yemeni forces to pause their assault because of the major humanitarian concerns such a battle would have.
However, the government says Al Houthis are using the port to illegally smuggle in weapons from Iran to sustain their military efforts.
Nonetheless, government forces agreed to a halt their offensive, but reserved their right to resume it if peace talks fail.
Grain silo under threat
Meanwhile, the World Food Programme said that it believes that only two-third of the 51,000 metric tons of grain at the Red Sea Mills in Hodeida is still “salvageable,” while one-third is already “unsafe for human consumption.”
Al Houthi militants have been preventing the WFP to access the mills, which can feed up to four million people for one month, since September 2018, Al Hashemy has said.
However, there will be another attempt by the United Nations’ agency to access the mills, she added.
“I asked the WFP, ‘To what extent do you think this grain is still consumable? How much is available? Do we need to start writing off this amount?’ They told us not to write it off as there is going to be another attempt to access the mills,” Al Hashemy told a group of journalists.
“They suspect that one-third (about 33 per cent) of the grain is already unsafe for human consumption, but they still believe that two-third (about 67 per cent) of it is still salvageable.
“We are really concerned because as the weather gets hotter in the next few months, the window of opportunity becomes less, but hopefully the team can have access soon,” she added.
