Yemen port, airport to reopen to aid, says Saudi-led coalition

Riyadh : The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said Wednesday it would reopen a key Red Sea port and Sanaa airport to aid, after a more than two-week blockade following a missile attack on Riyadh.

The coalition said it would reopen Hodeida port to receive “urgent humanitarian and relief materials” and Sanaa airport to UN aircraft from midday on Thursday (0900 GMT).

It did not specify when or if it would ease a blockade on commercial traffic.

Hodeida, which is controlled by Huthi rebels backed by Iran, is a key conduit for much-needed food and medicine imports to Yemen.

The coalition imposed a total blockade of Yemen’s ports and airports two days after the Huthis fired a missile at Saudi Arabia on November 4.

The missile was intercepted near Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport, sparking a war of words between Tehran and Riyadh, which accused Iran of “direct aggression” and supplying arms to the Huthis.

The United Nations said Wednesday it had been notified by the Saudi authorities of the reopening on Thursday of the Yemeni ports of Hodeida and Saleef, as well as Sanaa airport.

“We are monitoring these developments and we are trying to see whether that actually takes place on the ground,” UN spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters at UN headquarters in New York.

“Of course, if that were to happen that would be a very welcome and critically important development.”

The Huthi government on Tuesday announced the country’s main international airport was fully functional again a week after a Saudi-led air strike destroyed the facility’s navigation system.

The airport had been open to only select humanitarian flights.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says Yemen is highly dependent on imported wheat for its basic needs.