Head of UN monitors arrive in Sanaa for rebel talks

By Murad Erifi

SANAA, Yemen (AA) – The head of a UN mission tasked with monitoring Yemen’s ceasefire in the port city of Al-Hudaydah arrived in Sanaa on Sunday.

Patrick Cammaert, a retired Dutch general, arrived in the rebel-held capital aboard UN plane from the southern city of Aden, according to an Anadolu Agency reporter.

Cammaert is scheduled to hold talks with leaders of the Shia Houthi group.

The Dutch general had arrived in Aden on Saturday where he held talks with officials of the internationally-recognized government.

On Friday, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a British-sponsored resolution approving the deployment of a UN team to monitor Al-Hudaydah ceasefire.

Yemen's warring parties agreed last week to withdraw their forces from the Red Sea port city and institute a ceasefire during UN-sponsored talks in Sweden.

Saudi Arabia has been leading a coalition of countries against the Houthis since 2015 when Riyadh and its Sunni-Arab allies launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at rolling back Houthi gains that began a year earlier.

The Saudi-led campaign in Yemen has devastated the country's infrastructure, including its health and sanitation systems, prompting the UN to describe it as one of the worst humanitarian disasters of modern times.

Al-Hudaydah is a major lifeline for Yemen's beleaguered civilian population with significant amounts of humanitarian aid flowing through the port city.