Aden: The UN security council has rejected a move to demand an immediate end to the fighting around the strategic Yemeni port of Hodeidah despite warnings from aid agencies that an attack could jeopardise vital aid to a country on the brink of famine.
The 15-strong body failed to agree to a statement calling on forces led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to implement a ceasefire, with the US and UK both voicing opposition to the text introduced by Sweden.
The council instead called for restraint and "urged all sides to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law" in fighting for the city currently held by rebel Houthi forces. Pro-government forces backed by the UAE and Saudi Arabia began an assault on Wednesday.
The Swedish ambassador to the UN, Carl Skau, said: "It is time for the security council to call for an immediate freeze of the military attack on Hodeidah to give the special envoy and United Nations-led efforts a chance to avert disaster and find a sustainable political solution to the conflict."
David Miliband, the chief executive of the International Rescue Committee, supported the Swedes and challenged claims Hodeidah's port and humanitarian aid could be protected during an attack, saying there was "a great danger of besiegement and long-term urban warfare".
He told the BBC Radio 4 On Friday programme that the Saudi-led coalition, backing Yemen's exiled government against the Houthi rebels, had repeatedly failed to make the progress it had predicted since it entered the war in 2015.
"The immiseration of the Yemini people is quite extraordinary: 22 million in need of humanitarian aid; 8 million at risk of starvation; 50,000 died last year from cholera or cholera-related diseases," he
said.
The impasse at the UN keeps open the option of a direct attack on the port for the Saudi-led coalition, but it is aware this could lead to a massive backlash from western governments and aid
agencies.
Arab warplanes and warships on Thursday pounded Houthi positions in southern Hodeidah, with more than 40 fighters reported
killed.
There was no direct attack on the port, in the north-west of the city, and the coalition said the aim was to keep the port functional.
Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE ambassador to the UN, insisted the military offensive was "a deliberate, carefully prepared and executed operation".
Saudi Arabia's UN ambassador, Abdallah al-Mouallimi, added: "Our desire in Hodeidah is not to infuriate the Houthis or to kill as many of them as we possibly can. To the contrary, we have allowed them safe passage to the north of the city if they want to drop their arms and leave."
He challenged reports calling Hodeida "a lifeline to Yemen for humanitarian aid", arguing there were nine ports in Yemen and two in Saudi Arabia that could be used to reach those in need.
The security council's refusal to call for a ceasefire suggests the UK, US and France have accepted the Saudi and UAE claim that jeopardising aid flows is a justifiable risk if Houthi forces can be ousted from the city.