UN and Yemen rebels agree to transfer oil from Yemen tanker

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations and Yemen’s Houthi rebels have signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at resolving the environmental threat posed by a tanker carrying more than 1 million barrels of crude oil that has been moored off the coast of the war-torn Arab nation since the 1980s. The FSO Safer tanker’s long-term presence in the Red Sea has raised fears of a massive oil spill or explosion that could cause an environmental catastrophe. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric, who announced the agreement Monday, said the U.N. mission in Yemen “confirmed that the risk of imminent catastrophe is very real.”