Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

UN Envoy: UN Monitors Needed to Observe Yemen Cease-Fire

UN Envoy: UN Monitors Needed  to Observe Yemen Cease-Fire

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. envoy for Yemen called Friday for the urgent deployment of U.N. monitors to observe the implementation of a cease-fire in the strategic port city of Hodeida and the withdrawal of rival forces — a potential breakthrough in Yemen’s four-year civil war.
Martin Griffiths told the Security Council that a speedy presence in the field is “an essential part of the confidence” needed to accompany implementation of Thursday’s agreement between Yemen’s government and Houthi Shiite rebels reached after eight days of negotiations in Sweden.
Griffiths said in a video briefing from Amman, Jordan that Dutch Maj. Gen. Patrick Cammaert will lead the monitoring mission and could be in the region “as soon as the middle of next week.”
While calling the achievements at the talks “a significant step forward,” Griffiths also urged caution saying “what’s in front of us is a daunting task ... and the hard work is only about to begin.”
The conflict in Yemen began with the 2014 takeover of the capital, Sanaa, by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, who toppled the government of Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. (AP)