New UN mission head arrives in Yemen's Hudaydah

By Murad Arifi

ADEN, Yemen (AA) - The new head of UN observer mission in Yemen's coastal Al-Hudaydah province, General Michael Lollesgaard, arrived in Sanaa on Tuesday.

A UN aircraft carrying Lollesgaard and six assistants arrived in the Houthi-held city from Jordanian capital Amman, according to an Anadolu Agency reporter in the area.

Lollesgaard, a retired Danish general, was appointed last week by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to lead UN monitors in Al-Hudaydah, replacing Dutch general Patrick Cammaert.

He will observe the implementation of a ceasefire deal reached by the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels during their UN-brokered peace talks in Sweden last month.

Lollesgaard had headed the UN mission in Mali in the period between 2015-2016.

Impoverished Yemen has remained dogged by violence since 2014, when Shia Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including capital Sanaa.