UN envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths on Monday (January 28th) said the expected timeline for a truce in al-Hodeidah and a prisoner swap between warring parties had been pushed back, AFP reported.
At talks between the Yemeni government and the Iran-backed Houthis (Ansarallah) in Sweden last month, the two sides agreed to a mass prisoner swap and a ceasefire pact in al-Hodeidah city.
Griffiths, who arrived Monday in Sanaa, said there had been "changes in timelines" for both deals.
"That momentum is still there, even if we have seen the timelines for implementation extended," he told Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat.
"Yet such changes in timelines are expected, in light of the facts that the timelines were rather ambitious and we are dealing with a complex situation on the ground," he said.
Griffiths also confirmed reports of plans to replace Patrick Cammaert, who heads the monitoring team tasked with overseeing the al-Hodeidah truce, saying his role had been to lay the groundwork for the establishment of the mission.
Meanwhile, eight civilians were killed and 30 wounded in a "shocking" bomb attack against a centre for displaced people in Yemen, the UN said Sunday.
The bombing hit the centre in the Haradh district in Hajja province on Saturday, according to the UN humanitarian co-ordinator for Yemen, Lisa Grande.
She did not name the party behind the attack.
