Informed Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat on Friday that ministerial meeting of the Yemen quartet held in London Friday discussed the need for the Yemeni government and Houthis to implement the Hodeidah agreement before May 15, or in 18 days, the date when the UN Security Council should hold a new session on Yemen.
On Friday, UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths was on a visit to London where he attended a meeting with British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, UAE’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed and Saudi Arabia’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Adel Al Jubeir in the presence of veteran US diplomat David Satterfield.
The sources said the meeting discussed the delay of implementing the Hodeidah plan and it also tackled the continuous Iranian efforts to back Houthi militias with missiles and drones, which are targeting the territories of nearby states.
Before attending Friday’s meeting, Hunt said: “I called this meeting so that we keep doing everything we can to move forward on the hard road to peace in Yemen."
"This is a horrendous conflict and it is taking too long to turn the ceasefire agreed in Stockholm into a durable path to peace. While it is hugely welcome that both sides recently agreed the UN’s plan for the first phase of troop redeployments in Hodeidah, this took two months after the initial agreement was reached in Stockholm – far longer than we had all hoped,” he added.
Last December, Yemeni government troops and Houthi militants agreed on a ceasefire for the key port of Hodeidah during talks in Sweden. However, Iran-backed Houthis stalled the implementation of the truce.
This month, Griffiths announced that the legitimate government and Houthis have accepted a detailed redeployment plan in Hodeidah, and that his team was working on resolving the final outstanding issues related to the operational plans for phase two, redeployment and also the issue of the status of local security forces.
Amid the UN efforts to reach peace in Yemen and implement the Hodeidah deal, Yemeni government's spokesperson, Rajeh Badi told Asharq Al-Awsat Friday that reaching a peace agreement with the Houthi movement has become difficult if not impossible.
“Four months after signing the Stockholm deal, it remains clear that reaching a political settlement with the Iranian-backed militia group has become difficult or even impossible, and that the Hodeidah deal has complicated the scene by failing to pave the way towards another comprehensive or partial adjustment,” he said.
