Yemen rebels hand security of Hodeida ports to 'coastguard': UN

Yemen's Huthi rebels have handed over security of key Red Sea ports to the "coastguard" but much work remains to remove military equipment, the UN said Tuesday.

The rebel pullback is part of a hard-won truce agreement struck in Sweden in December between Yemen's Saudi-backed government and the Iran-aligned Huthis.

But the government has accused the insurgents of merely handing over the ports to their own forces in different uniforms.

The UN said Sunday it had been monitoring the withdrawal of the Huthi rebels from the Hodeida, Saleef and Ras Issa terminals.

A UN team was there on Tuesday to verify the redeployment.

Its head, General Michael Lollesgaard, welcomed the handover "of the security of the ports to the coastguard", according to a UN statement.

"There is still a lot of work to be done on the removal of the manifestations, but cooperation has been very good."

The UN Security Council is due to hear a briefing on Hodeida on Wednesday.

The city's port serves as a lifeline for millions in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country, which has been pushed to the brink of famine by more than four years of devastating war.

Last year's deal was hailed as a breakthrough that offered the best chance so far of ending the war in Yemen, where a coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is fighting on the government's side.

But although the violence has largely stopped in Hodeida, there have been intermittent clashes and the promised redeployment of the warring parties away from the front lines has failed to materialise.

? 2019 AFP