Coast guards check a car at the entrance of the Hodeidah port in Hodeidah, Yemen, on May 13, 2019. Yemen's Houthi group announced on Monday that the first phase of redeployment in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah was completed under the UN supervision. (Xinhua)
ADEN, Yemen, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi group announced on Monday that the first phase of redeployment in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah was completed under the UN supervision.
The Houthi-affiliated Masirah television network confirmed that the rebels' forces quit the city's key ports with the presence of the UN supervising teams.
"The redeployment took place without any hindrances as the Sanaa representatives (Houthi officials) provided us with all necessary facilities," the Houthi TV channel cited a UN official at the Salif port as saying.
A Houthi member of the joint Redeployment and Coordination Committee (RCC) said the United Nations will ask Yemen's government to implement its obligations by withdrawing its troops from Hodeidah as the rebels did.
On Saturday, the Houthi rebel forces withdrew from the three ports of the Yemeni Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, which was verified by the UN monitoring team.
UN spokesman Farhan Haq confirmed to reporters at the UN headquarters in New York on Saturday that the Houthi withdrawal "has begun."
However, Yemen's internationally-recognized government described the Houthis' withdrawal under a UN-brokered peace deal as "an inaccurate and misleading offer."
"Tripartite mechanism for Hodeidah Redeployment committee means that the Yemeni government, the UN and the Houthis must verify any pullout from the city," said Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled Alyemany.
"Neither the Stockholm Agreement nor the understanding of International Law includes a unilateral pullout," he said in a tweet on Sunday.
The long-delayed UN-sponsored Stockholm Agreement, the first step toward a comprehensive political solution, was reached in December 2018 and focused on the port city of Hodeidah, lifeline for Yemen's most commercial imports and humanitarian aid.
The Iran-allied Houthi rebels control the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah which has been the focus of intense clashes since 2017.
The government forces, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, have advanced to the southern outskirts of the port city, but the forces have halted a major offensive to recapture Hodeidah to pave the way for peace efforts.
