Yemen rebels announce Al-Hudaydah deal with gov’t

By Murad Erifi

SANAA, Yemen (AA) – Houthi rebels have announced a ceasefire deal with the Yemeni government and withdrawal from the port city of Al-Hudaydah during UN-brokered peace talks in Sweden.

"We agreed on an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of all sides in Al-Hudaydah under a UN committee's supervision," Houthi negotiator Jamal Amer told Anadolu Agency.

He said the supervision of the city’s ports will be given to the UN.

The UN-brokered talks kicked off in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, on Dec. 6 in an effort to end the 4-year military conflict in Yemen.

Talks between the two warring parties tackle the release of captives, the fight in Al-Hudaydah, Yemen’s central bank, access to humanitarian aid and the Sanaa airport.

As for the Sanaa Airport, Amer said an "initial agreement took place between the two parties on the opening of the airport… with the UN taking technical supervision of all the airports of Yemen."

"However, the other side insists that the airport remains local," he said.

There was no comment from the Yemeni government on the Houthi claim.

Yemen has remained wracked by violence since 2014, when Shia Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital, Sanaa, and the key port city of Hudaydah.

The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Sunni-Arab allies launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at rolling back Houthi gains.

The violence has devastated Yemen’s infrastructure, including its health and sanitation systems, prompting the UN to describe the situation as one of the worst humanitarian disasters of modern times.