YEMEN Press Agency

UN Security Council calls for keeping Hodeidah port open

NEW YORK, June 19 (YPA) – The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday called for keeping Hodeidah and Salif ports in western Yemen open to the international aid movement, stressing the need to respect international law by the conflicting parties.

The move came after a briefing presented by the UN Special Envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, to the Security Council members on the latest developments in Hodeidah, during a closed-door consultations session of the council on Tuesday.

“The political solution remains the only way to end the conflict in Yemen,” Russian ambassador, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the council, said in a press conference.

The Russian ambassador also confirmed the support of the Council’s members for the efforts of the UN envoy to Yemen.

British permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Karen Pearce, said before the session that all parties to the Yemeni crisis “are fully engaged with the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, who seeks to push the political process forward.”

She pointed out that the three-year war has left poor health and living conditions and that most of the population needs urgent humanitarian and medical assistance.

The United Nations said already in a report that the fighting in Hodeidah to control its ports exacerbates the suffering of Yemenis and causes a disaster for about 19 million Yemenis, 70 percent of the population.

The port of Hodeidah is witnessing fierce battles between the Yemeni army and other southern troops backed by the UAE and Saudi-led coalition forces, amid warnings of a humanitarian disaster, as the port is the only aid artery towards northern Yemen.

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