BFF-33 Yemen ceasefire monitors to deploy within 24 hours: UN

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Yemen ceasefire monitors to deploy within 24 hours: UN

DUBAI, Dec 18, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – A team including members of Yemen’s
warring sides will be dispatched within a day to monitor a truce deal in
Hodeida city, a United Nations official said Tuesday.

“The Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC) is expected to start its
work within the next 24 hours,” the official, who requested anonymity, told
AFP.

The RCC includes members of the Saudi-backed government and the Iran-
aligned Huthi rebels but is chaired by the United Nations.

“Both parties said publicly they are abiding by the ceasefire,” the UN
official said.

The observers are due to oversee the implementation of the truce, the
withdrawal of both warring parties from Hodeida city and the pullout of
Huthis from its major ports.

The committee chair is expected to report to the UN Security Council on a
weekly basis.

The ceasefire was meant to enter into force at midnight on Monday but
clashes continued until 03:00 am (1200 GMT), pro-government sources and
residents said.

Calm held on Tuesday morning in Hodeida city, whose Red Sea port is the
gateway for the vast majority of imports to Yemen.

The two warring sides have welcomed the truce, which was agreed at the UN-
sponsored talks in Sweden last week.

Impoverished Yemen has been mired in fighting between the Huthi rebels and
troops loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi since 2014.

The war escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition intervened
on the government’s side.

Since then some 10,000 people have been killed, according to the World
Health Organization, but some rights groups believe the toll is far higher.

BSS/AFP/FI/ 1655 hrs