SANAA, YEMEN—Yemen's Shiite rebels on Saturday handed over control of the main port in the Red Sea city of Hodeida to the country's navy and coast guard under U.N. supervision, security officials said, in a significant step in the implementation of a deal reached during peace talks in Sweden earlier this month. Shiite Houthi rebels have begun to withdraw from the key port in the Red Sea city of Hodeida as part of a deal reached in peace talks in Sweden earlier this month, a United Nations official said Saturday. Houthi rebels control most of northern Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa, whereas their rivals govern much of the country's south, including the Arabian Sea port city of Aden, where the exiled government is located. The handover was supposed to be the first in a series of confidence-building measures agreed to in Sweden that could pave the way for a political settlement of Yemen’s 4-year-old war pitting the rebels known as Houthis against the internationally recognized government backed since 2015 by a Saudi-led coalition. The government and rebels also agreed in Sweden to exchange prisoners of war in a deal involving thousands captured from both sides.
Yemen's Shiite rebels say they have given control of the port of Hodeida to the coast guard and local administrators. The Yemeni government disputes this claim.