UN ceasefire monitoring chief awaits response on Hodeidah withdrawal mechanism

The joint committee tasked with monitoring the ceasefire in Yemen’s Hodeidah will resume its meetings on Thursday. The meetings will be chaired by retired Dutch General Patrick Cammaert, head of the UN monitoring team, and attended by a legitimate government delegation and a Houthi delegation.

Cammaert is waiting for a response on his Wednesday proposal pertaining to the mechanism of withdrawal from Hodeidah’s city and port.

Deputy Governor of Hodeidah Walid Al Qudaimi said Cammaert proposed the Houthis’ withdrawal from the ports of Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Isa and from the city by no longer than next Tuesday, based on the Sweden agreement.

Qudaimi said Houthi representatives in the redeployment committee tried to provide a different interpretation of the Sweden agreement, which frankly stipulates the Houthis’ withdrawal from the city of Hodeidah and its ports, adding that Cammaert is the one who implements the agreement and specifies the parties that must withdraw.

He added that Cammaert will on Thursday submit a “special mechanism to monitor the ceasefire” which has been in effect since December 18 amid continuous violations by the Houthis.

Sources said that Cammaert will later discuss the plan of military redeployment with each party and hand his notes to them. Meetings will resume until executive steps are taken.

The sources also said that the government’s delegation prepared a file that details the Houthis’ manipulation of policemen and security forces’ documents and data in Hodeidah, and shows the Houthis’ violations and how they enrolled hundreds of their militiamen in the police force.