UN to report Tuesday on rebel withdrawals from 3 Yemen ports

FILE - This Sept. 29, 2018 file photo shows idle cargo and oil tanker ships at the port of Hodeida, Yemen. On Saturday, May 11, 2019, Houthi rebels began a long-delayed withdrawal of their forces from the key port city, the group said, following the terms of a cease-fire. The U.N.-brokered agreement is aimed at alleviating the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations says it will report Tuesday on whether rebel forces in Yemen carried out a first step in the redeployment of forces from three key ports in Yemen and is moving ahead to discuss the issues of management and use of revenues from the ports.

U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters Monday that "all three ports were monitored simultaneously by United Nations teams as the military forces left the ports and the Coast Guard took over responsibility for security."

The rebels, known as Houthis, said Saturday they began the long-delayed redeployment as part of a cease-fire reached in December. It is seen as a key step toward ending the civil war, which erupted in 2014.

Yemen's internationally recognized government has dismissed the Houthi withdrawal as a "farce."