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UN draft resolution calls for Yemen truce, two weeks to unblock aid

UN draft resolution calls for Yemen truce, two weeks to unblock aid

A UN draft resolution on Yemen presented to the Security Council on Monday calls for an immediate truce in the port city of Hodeida and sets a two-week deadline for the warring sides to remove all barriers to humanitarian aid. Britain circulated the draft , a copy of which was seen by AFP, to the 14 other council members after hearing a report on Friday from a UN envoy working to arrange peace talks in Sweden to end the nearly four-year war. A vote on the measure has yet to be scheduled. The proposed resolution would significantly ratchet up pressure on the Saudi-led coalition and the Iran-backed Huthi rebels to seek a negotiated settlement in Yemen, where millions are on the brink of starvation. The United Nations considers Yemen to be the world's biggest humanitarian crisis and has warned that without a stop to the fighting, the country will face one of the worst famines in decades. The draft text calls "on the parties to introduce a cessation of hostilities in Hodeida governorate, to end all attacks on densely populated civilian areas across Yemen and to cease all missile and UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle, or drone) attacks against regional countries and maritime areas." The Red Sea port of Hodeida, which is controlled by the Huthis and is a key point of entry for aid and imports to Yemen, has seen heavy fighting over the past weeks. The text calls on warring sides to "facilitate the unhindered flow of commercial and humanitarian food, water, fuel, medicine and other essential imports across the country, including by removing within two weeks of the adoption of this resolution, any bureaucratic impediments that could restrict such flows." - Kuwait not on board - The text calls for a large injection of foreign currency into the economy through the central bank to support the collapsing currency and for salaries of civil servants, teachers and health workers to be paid within one month. The truce would go into effect on the day of the adoption of the resolution. Under the measure, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres would report within two weeks to the council, which could then "consider further measures" to support the diplomatic push to end the war. Kuwait, a coalition member that represents Arab countries on the council, said it had reservations about the resolution and downplayed expectation of a vote, possibly later this week. Kuwaiti Ambassador Mansour al-Otaibi said there were "many things" that he wanted to raise when negotiations begin on Tuesday, notably the failure of the Huthis to withdraw from Sanaa under a previous resolution. Yemen's internationally recognized government said it will take part in peace talks, hours after Huthi rebel revolutionary committee chief Mohammed Ali al-Huthi said he was ready to freeze military operations. The Saudi-led coalition has been waging a war in Yemen since March 2015 to push back the Huthis and restore to power Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, whose government is recognized by the United Nations.