UN Security Council to vote on Yemen observer mission

Britain requested a vote at the UN Security Council on establishing a six-month observer mission to monitor a ceasefire in Yemen and oversee a pullback of forces, diplomats said on Tuesday.

The British-drafted resolution authorising the deployment of up to 75 monitors is likely to be voted on by the council on Wednesday, according to diplomats.

The unarmed monitors would be sent to the rebel-held city of Hodeida and its port along with the ports of Saleef and Ras Issa for an initial period of six months.

The port of Hodeida is the entry point for the bulk of Yemen's supplies of imported goods and humanitarian aid.

Talks between the Saudi-backed government and Houthi rebels last month in Sweden on ending the devastating war led to an agreement on the observer force.

A first group of about 20 monitors was authorised by the council last month to begin work in Yemen, but their mandate expires on January 20.

The draft resolution calls on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to "expeditiously" deploy the United Nations Mission to support the Hodeida Agreement (UNMHA), led by retired Dutch General Patrick Cammaert.

The UN says a ceasefire that went into force on December 18 in Hodeida has been generally holding, but there have been delays in the redeployment of rebel and government forces from the city.

The Houthis control most of Hodeida while government forces are deployed on its southern and eastern outskirts.

On Monday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused the rebels of failing to comply with the Hodeida truce agreement, after he held talks in Riyadh with Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The following day, Jordan accepted a UN request to host a meeting between Yemen's government and Houthi rebels to discuss a prisoner swap deal, a Jordanian foreign ministry statement said. 

The deal would allow for the reunification of thousands of family members split by Yemen's war, which escalated in March 2015.

The foreign ministry statement did not say when the meeting would take place.

The UN-backed government and the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels also exhanged lists of some 15,000 prisoners who delegates to the talks say would be transferred via the Houthi-held Sanaa airport and the government-held Sayun airport.

If an agreementis reached between the two sides, the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will oversee the prisoner swap process. The ICRC has said that Saudi Arabia will also need to guarantee that air space will be secure for flights to the two airports. 

The war between the Houthis and troops loyal to the internationally-recognised government escalated in March 2015, when President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi fled into Saudi exile and the Saudi-led coalition intervened.

The conflict has unleashed the world's worst humanitarian crisis, according to the UN, which says 14 million Yemenis are on the brink of famine.

At least 10,000 people have been killed since the Saudi-led coalition intervened in March 2015, although rights group maintain the actual death toll is five times higher.  

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