UN ceasefire monitoring chief tours Yemeni port of Hudaydah

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The head of the UN team, which is monitoring and helping implement a ground-breaking ceasefire across Yemen's crucial port city of Hudaydah, had his first face-to-face meeting with authorities there on Monday.
Retired Dutch General Patrick Cammaert and his advance team also undertook "a familiarization visit" to the port itself, where about 80 percent of life-saving humanitarian aid, food, and commercial goods arrive before being distributed, said the UN spokesperson's office.
The UN office also said that the team noted current boundaries and related access roads, particularly eastern and southern access roads into and out of the city.
Houthi opposition fighters have control of the center of Hudaydah and the port, and an offensive launched by the internationally-recognized government and their allies last June, to take the port, threatened the lives of around 300,000 children trapped in the city, said the UN. 
Historic consultations, which were convened in Sweden by UN special envoy Martin Griffiths earlier in December, have resulted in a Security Council resolution to endorse a deal to continue peace talks in January, and a fragile ceasefire that has held since last Tuesday.
The team arrived in Hudaydah on Sunday, and prior to their arrival, Cammaert met with Houthi members who will be working as part of the team, formally known as the Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC), in the capital, Sana'a.
In a note to correspondents at UN Headquarters in New York, the UN spokesperson's office said that Cammaert was "encouraged by the general enthusiasm of both sides to get to work, immediately."
The first joint RCC meeting is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, according to the UN. 
(Cover: Retired Dutch General Patrick Cammaert (1st L-front row) meets officials during his visit to Hudaydah, Yemen, December 24, 2018.

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