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Yemen Crisis: Deal to Free Hudaydah May Open Way for Aid to Country

Yemen Crisis: Deal to Free Hudaydah May Open Way for Aid to Country
folder_openAsia-Pacific... access_time5 years ago
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By Staff, Agencies

A breakthrough agreement on the pullback of forces around Yemen’s Red Sea port of al-Hudaydah may open the way for a large increase in the flow of aid into the war-torn country and prevent the country turning into a “bloody slaughterhouse”, Martin Griffiths, the UN special envoy for Yemen said.

The breakthrough was made at the weekend between military officials from the Yemen government and Ansarullah revolutionaries, and the redeployment of forces by the warring parties could start “possibly even today or tomorrow”.

Assessing the broader progress since an outline UN-sponsored agreement was reached between the parties in Stockholm in December, Griffiths said a “bloody slaughterhouse” has been avoided, but he also warned “famine still stalks this land”.

The UN is expected to ask for a further $4bn this year to alleviate the suffering of civilians at a conference next week in Geneva.

Griffiths spoke after Ansarullah revolutionaries and Saudi-backed government officials agreed at the weekend to launch the first phase of a redeployment of their troops around al-Hudaydah, the port and gateway for aid into the country.

The redeployment of troops around al-Hudaydah was agreed in principle in talks in Stockholm in December, but the proposed implementation timetable has been missed badly, leading some observers to claim the process might be doomed.

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