- On December 3, Abdul Qader al-Murtaza, chairman of the Houthi-run Committee for Prisoners’ Affairs, told Turkey’s Anadolu news agency that the Houthis (also known as Ansar Allah) and the Saudi-UAE-led coalition had reached a prisoner exchange deal. Murtaza added that the agreement may become a first step towards resolving the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
- On December 5, the sides are expected to start peace talks on the conflict.
Click to see the full-size image
It’s been about 20 days or so since the Saudis let any cargo ships enter the Port of Hodeidah. Their online propaganda trolls insist it is actually the Houthis that will not permit ships to unload. The Saudi logic behind Houthis willingly and intentionally starving themselves escapes me. Remember: all these ships are inspected by the Saudis and UN before being allowed to unload – there is no way any missiles or ammunition were getting in through Hodeidah for the last year.
There is one small bulk cargo ship scheduled to arrive at Hodeidah in Dec. 15th, the Ince Hamburg that just left from Port Nikolaev in Ukraine. Now THAT ship really needs to be inspected for al Qaeda-bound weapons if the Houthis lose the port by the 15th. Al Qaeda- or al Amaliqa Brigades-bound, same difference.
Hodeidah did get another small oil tanker today that was waiting at the Hodeidah anchorage offshore for over a week. Looks like the Saudis/UAE are trying to avoid the bad PR from the world’s largest cholera epidemic they caused last year. The water plants and sewage treatment facilities need diesel fuel for their generators. They shut down last year after the Saudis blockaded oil shipments, precipitating the epidemic.
The smaller port of Saleef to the north gets a few small cargo ships a week – about normal for that port and all it can handle. But that isn’t nearly enough to make up for what ISN’T coming through Hodeidah. And the two largest flour mills for all of north Yemen are in Hodeidah – one of them – the Red Sea Mill – might not even be operational. And that one is apparently owned by Hadi’s Vice President and run by family members of the Hadi mafia. I’m guessing no flour is going from there to Sana’a.