SANAA, Yemen -- Yemen's Shiite rebels on Saturday said they handed over control of the main port in the Red Sea city of Hodeida to the country's navy and coast guard under U.N. supervision.
But the government denied that claim, calling it a ploy by the Iran-aligned rebels to maintain control of the strategic facility.
The hand-over was supposed to be the first in a series of confidence-building measures agreed to in Sweden that could pave the way for a political settlement of Yemen's 4-year-old war pitting the rebels known as Houthis against the internationally recognized government backed since 2015 by a Saudi-led coalition.
But the pro-government Sabaa news agency quoted what it called an official source as saying the Houthis' assertion about giving up the port was an attempt to sidestep the Sweden agreement.
"We cannot accept these violations, which will lead to the failure of the agreement," the agency quoted the source as saying.
Military and Hodeida officials loyal to the government said the Houthis had taken advantage of their control of the city to place loyalist administrators and fighters into port management posts, as well as the navy and the coast guard.
"It's a stage play in which the Houthis handed over the port to their fighters after they put on coast guard uniforms," said the Hodeida governor, al-Hassan Taher.
The rebels control most of northern Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa, while their war foes control much of the south, including the Arabian Sea port city of Aden, where the exiled government is seated.
The two sides have observed a cease-fire in Hodeida for more than a week, ending months of fierce fighting between the two sides for control of Hodeida. A U.N. team led by a Dutch officer has been in the city for more than a week to monitor the cease-fire. The U.N. team is led by retired Dutch Maj. Gen. Patrick Cammaert.
Some 70 percent of Yemen's imports come through Hodeida, and the Sweden deal is designed in part to facilitate the arrival of relief supplies to push Yemen back from the brink of famine. The fighting has killed tens of thousands of people, and has driven millions to hunger. The U.N. calls it the world's worst humanitarian disaster.
The two sides also agreed in Sweden to exchange prisoners of war in a deal involving thousands captured from both sides. The implementation of that deal has yet to begin.
Government officials maintain that the Houthis are denying the presence of nearly 3,000 prisoners in their detention facilities. The names of some 8,500 prisoners have been submitted to the rebels.
The two sides also have agreed to open "humanitarian corridors" extending from Hodeida to Sanaa to allow relief supplies to peacefully pass through.
However, the government side complains that the proposed corridors have been heavily mined by the Houthis. There was no immediate comment from the rebels' side on that claim.
A Section on 12/30/2018