{"id":26406,"date":"2018-12-21T10:28:24","date_gmt":"2018-12-21T10:28:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=26406"},"modified":"2018-12-21T10:28:24","modified_gmt":"2018-12-21T10:28:24","slug":"un-council-to-vote-on-monitors-for-truce-at-key-yemen-port","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=26406","title":{"rendered":"UN council to vote on monitors for truce at key Yemen port"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nThe UN Security Council called a vote for Friday on a resolution that would authorize the use of UN monitors to observe the implementation of a cease-fire in Yemen\u2019s important port of Hodeidah and the withdrawal of rival forces from that area.<\/p>\n

\nPassage could offer a potential breakthrough in the four-year civil war that has brought the Arab world\u2019s poorest country to the brink of starvation.<\/p>\n

\nThe UN envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, has urged rapid deployment of UN monitors as \u201can essential part of the confidence\u201d needed to help implement the Dec. 13 cease-fire agreement between Yemen\u2019s government and the Houthi militia. The pact also calls for the \u201cphased but rapid mutual withdrawals\u201d of fighters from Hodeidah as well as its main docks and two others in the province.<\/p>\n

\nThe fragile cease-fire has halted months of heavy fighting in Hodeidah, which handles 70 percent of the food and humanitarian aid imported into Yemen. But Yemeni officials have reported sporadic artillery and automatic weapons fire from the Houthis.<\/p>\n

\nThere had been intense negotiations over the past week on a British-drafted resolution that would authorize the UN monitors, including over whether to condemn Iran for supplying weapons to the Houthis \u2014 a statement that the US wanted and Russia strongly opposed.<\/p>\n

\nThen the United States surprised the council by circulating a stripped-down rival resolution Thursday. It is exceedingly rare for allies to present rival resolutions to the Security Council.<\/p>\n

\nThe British responded by putting their draft in a final form that can be voted on, and diplomats said it would be put to a vote on Friday morning.<\/p>\n

\nIf the British resolution doesn\u2019t get a minimum nine \u201cyes\u201d votes or is vetoed by another of the council\u2019s permanent members \u2014 the US, Russia, China and France \u2014 the United States could then seek a vote on its rival draft.<\/p>\n

\nThe British draft would authorize UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres \u201cto establish and deploy, for an initial period of 30 days … an advance team to begin monitoring and to support and facilitate the immediate implementation of the Stockholm agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nIt also endorses the truce agreement and requests Guterres to submit proposals \u201cas soon as possible before Dec. 31\u201d on how the United Nations will fully support the cease-fire, the redeployment of the rival forces from the Hodeidah area and other provisions in the accord.<\/p>\n

\nIn response to Russia\u2019s threatened veto of the resolution if it referred to Iran, the text now condemns \u201cthe supply, from whatever source, of weapons and associated material in contravention of the arms embargo\u201d against the Houthis in 2015.<\/p>\n

\nThe British draft also addresses the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen and backs Griffiths\u2019 efforts to facilitate \u201can inclusive political process.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nThe conflict in Yemen began with the 2014 takeover of Sanaa by Iranian-backed Houthi militia, who toppled the government of Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.<\/p>\n

\nThe conflict has killed over 10,000 people, created the world\u2019s worst humanitarian crisis and brought the country to the brink of famine.<\/p>\n

\nThe British draft calls on the Houthis and the government to remove bureaucratic obstacles to the flow into Yemen of commercial and humanitarian supplies, to ensure the effective operation of ports and the reopening of Sanaa airport, and to protect medical facilities.<\/p>\n

\nIt also calls on the government, with international support, to strengthen Yemen\u2019s collapsed economy, including by strengthening the functioning of the central bank and paying pensioners and civil servants\u2019 salaries.<\/p>\n

\nThe US draft resolution strips out all humanitarian and political references. It simply endorses the cease-fire agreement and authorizes the secretary-general \u201cfor 30 days\u201d to establish and deploy an advance team to begin monitoring it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UN Security Council called a vote for Friday on a resolution that would authorize the use of UN monitors to observe the implementation of a cease-fire in Yemen\u2019s important port of Hodeidah and the withdrawal of rival forces from that area. Passage could offer a potential breakthrough in the four-year civil war that has…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":26407,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}