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UN Security Council to discuss new Yemen mission
UNITED NATIONS, United States, Jan 9, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The UN Security
Council will on Wednesday discuss a proposal for a new observer mission to
Yemen to monitor a ceasefire and oversee a pullback of forces, diplomats
said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres outlined the proposal in a letter to
the council seen by AFP after the Saudi-backed government and Huthi rebels
agreed to a truce during talks in Sweden last month.
The new mission would provide for the initial deployment of up to 75
monitors to the ports of Hodeida, Saleef and Ras Isa, backed by additional
administrative and security staff, according to the proposal.
The international observers would “monitor the compliance of the parties to
the ceasefire in Hodeida governorate and the mutual redeployment of forces
from the city of Hodeida and the ports of Hodeida, Saleef and Ras Isa,”
according to the document.
UN envoy Martin Griffiths will brief the council on Wednesday on his latest
efforts to end the war following a new round of shuttle diplomacy in rebel-
held Sanaa and in Riyadh.
On Tuesday, Griffiths met with Yemen’s President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in
Riyadh after holding talks with Huthi rebel leaders in Sanaa.
– Fragile political process –
The United Nations is proposing to bring the sides together again for a new
round of talks later this month, probably in Kuwait.
The proposed mission “would contribute to sustaining the fragile political
process recently relaunched by the special envoy,” said Guterres in his
proposal.
“This would provide important support for the special envoy’s efforts to
facilitate an inclusive political process with the aim of reaching a
negotiated settlement that will bring about a permanent end to the conflict
in Yemen.”
Once the council endorses the proposal, diplomats would begin negotiations
on a draft resolution to formally establish the mission.
The United Nations has deployed a small team of about 16 international
monitors to Yemen, led by Dutch general Patrick Cammaert, under a resolution
adopted last month that backed the Stockholm agreement.
The council is expected to take action before the mandate of that advance
team expires on January 20. Cammaert would also head the new observer
mission, according to the proposal. The war between the Huthis and troops
loyal to the government escalated in March 2015, when President Hadi fled to
Saudi Arabia and the Riyadh-led coalition intervened.
The conflict has unleashed the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, according
to the UN, which says 14 million Yemenis are on the brink of famine.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0910 hrs