The United Arab Emirates, a key ally of Yemen’s government in a Saudi-led coalition fighting the Huthi rebels, on Thursday welcomed a UN-brokered ceasefire for the battleground port city of Hodeida.
“We welcome the (truce) accord reached in Sweden,” UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said on Twitter.
He attributed the deal to military pressure by the coalition, which intervened in 2015 after the rebels seized the capital Sanaa as well as Hodeida and its vital Red Sea port.
“The diplomatic progress was made possible by sustained military pressure against the Huthis along the Red Sea and around Hodeida,” Gargash said.
He also revealed that there were 5,000 Emirati soldiers engaged in fighting to recapture Hodeida from the rebels.
UN chief Antonio Guterres, announcing the ceasefire, said the United Nations would play a “leading role” at the port.
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