Yemeni rebels slam UK foreign secretary over his comments

SANNA, Yemen – Yemen's rebels are criticizing Britain's foreign secretary over comments about the flashpoint port city of Hodeida, saying Jeremy Hunt had misrepresented what the warring sides agreed on at U.N. peace talks in Sweden.

Hunt said during a visit Sunday to Yemen that Hodeida "was supposed to be cleared of militia and left under neutral control by the beginning of January."

Mohammed Abdul-Salam, spokesman for the rebel Houthis, said on Monday that the December deal in Sweden never mentioned handing Hodeida to a neutral party.

He said it stipulated that after warring sides withdraw, Hodeida would be patrolled by an unspecified "local force" with U.N. observers.

Abdul-Salam accused Hunt and Britain of siding with the Saudi-led coalition that backs Yemen's internationally recognized government in its four-year war against the Iran-backed Houthis.