Yemen says 'assured' by UN on Hudaydah deal

SANAA, Yemen

Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi has received UN assurances about the implementation of UN-brokered deal on the strategic Hudaydah province, according to his office on Tuesday.

"Hadi received assurances from UN Secretary-General [Antonio Guterres] that his envoy Martin Griffiths would abide by implementing the Hudaydah deal in accordance with international resolutions and Yemeni law," head of Hadi's office, Abdullah al-Alimi, said on Twitter.

On Monday, the UN Security Council threw its support behind Griffiths after he was embroiled in a dispute with Hadi, who accused the UN envoy of siding with Houthi rebels, the same accusation he used against him last month.

In a statement, the council called on the parties to "engage constructively and continuously" with Griffiths.

The council's members praised Griffiths' efforts to back the parties to implement the Stockholm Agreement and to promote a political solution in Yemen, according to the statement.

The statement came after a meeting between Hadi and UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo in the Saudi capital Riyadh which tackled Griffiths' work toward the implementation of the agreement.

Al-Alimi, for his part, described the meeting with DiCarlo as "fruitful and constructive."

Signed in December in Sweden, the agreement provides a conduit for aid through Hudaydah, the demilitarization of Taiz and an exchange of prisoners.

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains.

Since then, tens of thousands of Yemenis, including civilians, are believed to have been killed in the conflict, while another 14 million are at risk of starvation, according to the UN.

According to UN figures, Yemen is facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with more than 10 million people driven to the brink of famine. More than 22 million people in Yemen are desperate for humanitarian aid and protection.

* Writing by Ali Abo Rezeg