11 May 2019; DW: Houthi rebels are withdrawing from three ports in line with a ceasefire deal that was agreed to in December. Diplomats hope that the move could pave the way for a peace agreement.
Yemen's Houthi rebels began pulling back from three ports on Saturday, the first steps on the ground since a ceasefire deal was agreed.
The withdrawal from Hodeida, Salif and Ras Issa ports started at 10 a.m. local time (0700 GMT), said Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, the head of the rebels' Supreme Revolutionary Committee.
The withdrawal of rebel forces, delayed since January, was expected to be complete by Tuesday, General Michael Lollesgaard, head of a UN redeployment committee said in a statement.
The Danish general said he welcomed "the offer and intention" of the Iran-backed Shiite rebels to withdraw from the three lifeline ports.
The pullout was part of an accord, seen as the best hope in years towards ending the war, reached in Sweden last December. A UN observer mission, led by Lollesgaard, is set to monitor and report on the Houthi redeployment.
A Yemeni government spokesman, Sadiq Dweid, said on Twitter that a Houthi withdrawal is "the first step of the first stage. We support the implementation of the agreement."
A Sunni-Muslim coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to push back against an advance by the rebels and restore power to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
According to UN diplomats, Houthis had refused to pull back from the ports because they were worried that the Saudi-led coalition would move in to seize the facilities.
The Saudi-led coalition claims the rebels are using the ports to smuggle weapons, while the rebels say they would be starved of vital supplies if the coalition held control over them.
The port of Hodeida is one of Yemen's most important lifelines. More than 10 million people are dependent on World Food Programme supplies that enter the country there.
