by Murad Abdo
ADEN, Yemen, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Saudi-backed Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels concluded the UN-sponsored peace talks in Sweden on Thursday with an agreement on cease-fire in the flashpoint Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.
They also agreed to withdraw the warring forces within days, a significant progress witnessed by the UN chief Antonio Guterres who participated in the Yemeni negotiating teams at the closing ceremony of the seven-day peace talks.
Guterres said what was done during the talks was an important step for the benefit of the Yemeni people.
"You have reached an agreement on Hodeidah port and city, which will see a mutual re-deployment of forces from the port and the city, and the establishment of a province-wide cease-fire," he said.
"The UN will play a leading role in the port," he added.
According to a statement from the UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths, the parties reached an agreement on the city of Hodeidah and the ports of Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Issa, an executive mechanism on activating the prisoner exchange agreement, and a statement of understanding on Taiz.
The two warring sides will be committed "to fully implementing the agreement and to working toward the removal of any obstructions or impediments to its implementation; and to refraining from any action, escalation or decisions that would undermine the prospects for full implementation of the agreement," the statement said.
The delegations representing the two sides will be committed to continuing the consultations unconditionally in January 2019 in a location to be agreed upon in Sweden, it added.
Yemeni political analysts and observers praised Sweden's deal and considered it a significant win for the exhausted Yemeni people and a key breakthrough for the UN-sponsored talks aimed at ending the country's conflict.
But some fear the interpretation and the implementation of Hodeidah's cease-fire deal and other agreements will be likely more difficult than the announcement.
Abdul-Raqeeb Hidyani, a political analyst and writer, told Xinhua that Sweden's deal was an important step in the long road of solving Yemen's complicated issue that caused these tragedies.
"The implementation and the interpretation of the agreements in Sweden is the most important thing because many previous agreements failed just days after the signing ceremonies," Hidyani said.
Nadwa Dawsari, a Yemeni researcher and conflict specialist, said it's too early to get excited about the new deal.
"The devil is in the details. At best, it will lead to improving humanitarian conditions and easing some tensions, but it will be highly unlikely lead to ending the conflict," he warned.
Yahya Abu Hatim, a strategic military expert and observer, said Houthis is likely the only side that benefits from the agreements.
"The Houthis participated in the talks just to show themselves in front of the international community as a group that respect politics and that is not true because Houthis did not respect many political agreements in the past and only resort to military actions," he said.
Sources confirmed that the withdrawal of the warring forces from Hodeidah will be conducted within 14 days in two phases.
The two parties have been discussing the details of re-opening the airport in Sanaa, de-escalation measures in both Taiz and Hodeidah, and implementation of the agreement on exchanging prisoners, as well as the economic situation, Griffiths said.
Yemen has been mired in a civil war since 2014 when the Houthi rebels overtook the capital Sanaa and toppled the government of President Abd-Rabbuh Mansour Hadi. A Saudi-led coalition has been fighting the Houthis since 2015.
The war has killed more than 10,000 people and created the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
The latest peace talks tackled a wide range of substantive issues, with the aim of putting Yemen back on the path of peace, and alleviating the suffering of the Yemeni people.
