ADEN, Yemen, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The head of the UN cease-fire monitoring team in Yemen's Red Sea port city of Hodeidah officially submitted his resignation and is expected to leave his post in two weeks, a government official told Xinhua on Friday.
"The UN dispatched an official letter to the Yemeni government informing that Patrick Cammaert had resigned and will not continue in leading the cease-fire monitoring team in Hodeidah," the official working at Yemen's Foreign Ministry said on condition of anonymity.
"The government received the UN's letter stating the intention to replace Cammaert with Danish Major General Michael Anker Lollesgaard in February," he added.
Reasons behind Cammaert's resignation are still unclear.
However, another government source said "lack of understanding" between Cammaert and UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths over Houthi rebels "resulted in this resignation."
"Cammaert preferred to take tougher approach in dealing with Houthis who refused to honor the terms of Stockholm agreement," the government source said on condition of anonymity.
On Tuesday, the UN spokesperson denied Cammaert's resignation, saying in a tweet that he "continues his work, contrary to media reports."
Patrick Cammaert, a retired Dutch general, and his team arrived in war-torn Hodeidah last month to oversee the cease-fire deal reached between Yemen's government and Houthi rebels in Sweden last December.
However, the fragile cease-fire was breached multiple times by both sides despite presence of the UN cease-fire monitoring team.
Last week, gunfire targeted UN armored vehicles carrying Cammaert and his team, causing no casualties.
The Iranian-backed Houthi militia blamed Cammaert for failing to achieve progress in implementing the Stockholm agreement.
"The lack of progress in Hodeidah in terms of the implementation of the Stockholm agreement is mainly due to the head of the UN-led Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC) who steered from the course of the agreement by implementing other agendas," Mohammed Abdul-Salam, a Houthi spokesman, said on Twitter.
The Saudi-backed government, however, said the Houthis boycotted the meetings of the UN-backed RCC, including a phased withdrawal of Houthi forces and introduction of a new security presence in Hodeidah.
The cease-fire deal signed between the two-warring rivals in Sweden demands full withdrawal of all armed groups from Hodeidah and its strategic seaports.
According to the deal, the UN will manage the port and supervise the re-deployment of neutral forces to prevent military escalation, while local forces will help maintain law and order in Hodeidah.
Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Houthi rebels overtook the capital Sanaa and toppled the government of President Abd-Rabbuh Mansour Hadi. A Saudi-led coalition has been fighting the Houthis since 2015.
The war has so far killed more than 10,000 people and created a serious humanitarian crisis.
