Local Editor
Yemen's Houthi forces have started to redeploy inside the port city of Hodeida as part of the U.N.-sponsored peace agreement signed in Sweden earlier this month, a U.N. source said on Saturday.
Both sides, the Houthis and the Saudi-backed resigned regime, agreed on a ceasefire in Hodeida province and withdrawal of their armed forces during the meetings that took place in Sweden.
The move is the first in a series of confidence-building measures agreed to in Sweden that could pave the way for a political settlement of Yemen's four-year-old civil war.
The Houthi control most of northern Yemen, including the capital Sana’a, while their war foes control much of the south, including the Arabian Sea port city of Aden, where the resigned regime is located.
The two sides have observed a ceasefire in Hodeida for more than a week, ending months of fierce fighting between the two sides for control of Hodeida.
A UN team led by a Dutch officer arrived last week in the city to monitor the ceasefire. The UN team is led by retired Dutch Major Geneneral Patrick Cammaert.
About 70 per cent of Yemen's imports come through Hodeida, and the Sweden deal is designed in part to facilitate the arrival of relief supplies to push Yemen back from the brink of famine.
The fighting has killed tens of thousands of people, and has driven millions to hunger. The UN calls it the world's worst humanitarian disaster.
The two sides also agreed in Sweden to exchange prisoners of war in a deal involving thousands captured from both sides. The implementation of that deal is yet to begin and may run into difficulties.
The two sides also agreed over the weekend to open "humanitarian corridors" extending from Hodeida to Sana’a to allow relief supplies to peacefully pass through.
The security officials said the Houthis are expected in the next few days to hand over control of two more ports north of Hodeida - the oil terminal of Rass Issa and Salif, which has been used for incoming relief supplies - under the Sweden deal.
The regime side, on its part, would redeploy its forces out of the eastern reaches of Hodeida as a first step.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
