The spokesman of Yemen’s Ansarullah revolutionary movement expressed doubts about the United Nations’ assertions about a recent peace deal on Hodeidah, saying the agreement for implementing a ceasefire in the western port city is yet to be finalized.
Mohammad Abdulsalam, who represented Ansarullah in the recent UN-sponsored peace talks in Sweden, said the agreement on Hodeidah reportedly reached on Thursday between the warring sides in Yemen was just a deal on the main issues involved and there was no binding agreement on how to implement the ceasefire in the port city.
Contradictory to the UN statements, Abdulsalam told Press TV that the talks were far from over and that no final agreement had been reached on Hodeidah between the National Unity government in Sana’a, led by Ansarullah and the Saudi Arabia-backed exiled government.
“If we want to describe the manner of talking with the UN then I’d say yes, we’re close from certain issues in politics, economy, and humanitarian aid, but how it would be implemented depends on the other party, and the question lies if they’re ready to do so,” said Abdul Salem, who led the Sana’a delegation to the talks.
“Concerning Hodeidah, we made progress in terms of form and ideas, but in the content there was nothing. In the issue of the general spectrum, we had progress in ideas, but there were no agreements,” he added.
The comments came following UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ speech on the final day of the negotiations on Thursday.
“We have reached an agreement on Hodeidah port and city, which will see a mutual redeployment of forces from the port and the introduction of a governorate-wide ceasefire,” said Guterres.
Ansarullah’s Abdulsalam was quite clear that the agreement details had not been finalized and expressed doubts about the ability of his rivals to implement such measures on the ground.
“They don’t have any actual presence, neither on the ground, nor in politics, nor military-wise, nor in the media,” he said.
Source: Tasnim News Agency
