Hodeida pullback plan okayed

New York - The redeployment of forces was agreed in December under a ceasefire deal reached in Sweden.

Yemen's government and Houthi rebels have accepted a detailed plan for a much-delayed pullback from the flashpoint city of Hodeida, the UN envoy said on Monday, but no timetable was announced for the withdrawals.
The redeployment of forces was agreed in December under a ceasefire deal reached in Sweden that offered the best hope in years of moving toward an end to the war.
UN envoy Martin Griffiths told the Security Council that "both parties have now accepted a detailed redeployment plan" for the first stage of the pullback from Hodeida.
Griffiths said he received assurances from Houthi leader Abdul Malik Al Houthi when they met in Sanaa last week that his forces would support the Hodeida agreement, but the envoy sounded a note of caution after so many delays. "Let us be clear that when - and I hope it is when and not if - these redeployments happen, they will be the first voluntary withdrawal of forces in this long conflict," he said by videoconference from Amman.

• MENA