Friends,
Consider joining us on Thursday, April 18 from 5 to 6 PM
at 33rd and North Charles Streets in Baltimore to condemn Trump’s callous veto
of the War Powers Act. In exchange for Saudi money to the Trump family, the
U.S. military will assist the Saudis and the U.A.E. in slaughtering Yemeni
people. Bring a sign.
Kagiso, Max
Yemen's warring
sides agree terms for redeployment of forces in Hodeidah, UN envoy says
'Both
parties have accepted,' Martin Griffiths told the UN Security Council
The UN special envoy for
Yemen, Martin Griffiths (R), arrives at Sanaa international airport in the
Yemeni capital on April 8, 2019. AFP
Martin Griffiths, the UN special envoy for
Yemen, said on Monday that the country's warring factions had finally agreed on
terms for a withdrawal of troops from the Red Sea Port of Hodeidah.
Implementation of a limited peace deal
between Yemen's government and Houthi rebels, who have been fighting since
2015, has been delayed for months.
The agreement said troops and fighters would
be withdrawn from Hodeidah in the first phase of a ceasefire agreed to in
December but there have been repeated disagreements over who would take their
place to secure the port.
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“I am happy to announce that both parties
have now accepted the detailed redeployment plan for phase one,” Mr Griffiths
told the UN Security Council by video link.
“I am grateful to both parties for the
constructive engagement that has allowed us to reach this point.
"We will now move with all speed towards
resolving the final outstanding issues related to phase two and the status of local
security forces.”
But Mr Griffiths has made similar
announcements in recent months without the situation changing in Hodeidah.
The four-year conflict in Yemen has shattered
its economy and created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
More than 10,000 civilians have been killed
and an estimated 10 million people have been driven to the brink of famine.
The ceasefire, which was meant to speed up
the delivery of humanitarian aid, does not apply to the rest of the country.
Fighting has flared, especially in recent
weeks with the situation in Hodeidah in deadlock.
Under the peace plan, troops and fighters
were supposed to be replaced by local forces but there has been no publicly
disclosed details on how that is to occur.
An Arab-led military coalition supports the
government whereas the rebels are backed by Iran.
A letter submitted by the Arab Coalition to
the UN Security Council last week detailed more than 3,000 rebel breaches of
the ceasefire in Hodeidah.
But Mr Griffiths, who led the UN-brokered
talks in Sweden, said the prospect of full-out war remained as real today as
when he took the job of special envoy a year ago.
“At any time war can take the chance of peace
off the table,” he told the council. “Our pursuit of peace is measured against
the lives and livelihoods daily lost across the various governorates of Yemen.
"This explains my persistence in
planning, hoping and pushing for a start of consultations leading to that
political solution.”
Michael Lollesgaard, who leads the UN mission
in Yemen and chairs a committee set up to implement the ceasefire, has been
talking with both sides for weeks.
“Let us be clear that when these
redeployments happen they will be the first voluntary withdrawals of forces in
this long conflict,” Mr Griffiths said.
“It is not an easy decision for the parties
to take and I don't take their commitment lightly. Of course it is taking
longer than we had hoped but that it should happen at all is extremely
welcome.”
But he said there was also a need for a new
round of peace negotiations.
“I would be derelict in my duty if I was not
also preparing the ground for political consultations, not least because the
war in Yemen shows no signs of abating,” Mr Griffiths said.
Mark Lowcock, the UN's undersecretary general
for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief co-ordinator, told the council
that there had been “a pronounced escalation of violence in other parts of the
country”.
The Arab coalition on Monday said that the Houthis
two days ago used drones to target Yemen's first parliamentary session since
2015, which took place in Hadhramawt, a province in the centre of the country.
Eleven unmanned aircraft had been intercepted
and destroyed, coalition spokesman Col Turki Al Malki said.
“We welcome the convening of the Yemeni
Parliament,” Col Al Malki said in the Saudi capital Riyadh. “It signified the
isolation of the Houthi militia.”
The Houthis are continuing to store weapons
and drones in civilian areas in the capital Sanaa and are using people as human
shields, he said.
Updated: April 16, 2019 12:08 AM
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"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their
lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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