UN envoy in Yemen to push for peace talks as famine looms

The UN's Yemen envoy flew into the rebel-held capital Sanaa Wednesday to push for renewed peace talks after fierce fighting for the lifeline port of Hudaida which has ramped up fears of a catastrophic famine.

But Hudaida residents reported clashes just hours ahead of Griffiths' arrival, and a devastating all-out assault still looms as t he coalition eyes a key victory in its war with Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

UN agencies say the closure of Hudaida port due to fighting or damage could put up to 14 million Yemenis at risk of starvation.

The city is virtually the sole gateway to the capital and rebel-held territory and its port is the entry point for the vast majority of food and humanitarian aid into Yemen.

Griffiths was expected to meet rebel political leaders as he attempts to revive a peace process that collapsed in September after the insurgents refused to attend talks in Switzerland.

US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said Wednesday that peace talks had been set for early December in Sweden, where "it looks like... we'll see both the Houthi rebel side and the UN-recognised government".

The Houthis have said repeatedly they need stronger international guarantees that they will be given safe passage through the crippling air and sea blockade the coalition has enforced since March 2015.

'Sternest test'

The international community is demanding in return that the rebels halt all offensive operations, particularly missile attacks on neighbouring Saudi Arabia, and commit to joining talks on handing Hudaida's port to UN control.

"Griffiths faces the sternest test of his young tenure," said Brussels-based think tank International Crisis Group.

"If his mediation efforts succeed in preventing a destructive battle for Hudaida, he could build momentum toward reviving a peace process."

Both warring sides have in the past week expressed support for the envoy's mission to convene new talks, but fierce clashes flared again in Hudaida late Tuesday.

Residents in the east of the city told AFP by telephone they could hear fighting, and reported shrapnel falling in residential neighbourhoods.

They said a limited number of people were leaving the city.

Mohammed Rashed, who is currently living in a makeshift tent to the east of the Sanaa, said he left Hudaida last week because of the clashes.

"We could not stay because of the air strikes," he told AFP.

"My house was struck, and my neighbours' homes were struck and people were killed."

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Wednesday that its teams had treated over 500 wounded people since November 1 and that it remained "extremely worried for its patients and staff threatened by fighting very close" to its facilities in Hudaida.

Yemen peace talks set for early December in Sweden: US

The UN envoy for Yemen announced Friday the country's internationally recognised government and rival Houthi Shia rebels have agreed to attend talks aimed at ending their three-year war, which has created the globe's worst humanitarian crisis by pushing the Arab world's poorest country to the brink of famine.

The spotlight has fallen on what many viewed as the long forgotten war in Yemen since the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul on October 2. Griffiths said he is determined to take advantage of "the international attention and energy" to move toward peace.

"We must seize this positive international momentum on Yemen," he told the UN's most powerful body. "This is an opportunity at a crucial moment to pursue a comprehensive and inclusive political settlement to the conflict."

Griffiths said preparatory issues for the meeting are close to being resolved and he has sent the parties his "vision" for "UN-led, inclusive Yemeni negotiations to end the war and restart a political transition process."

Call for truce

Britain on Monday presented to the UN Security Council a draft resolution urging an immediate truce in Hudaida and setting a two-week deadline for the warring sides to remove barriers to humanitarian aid.

"The only solution is for all the parties to set aside their arms, cease missile and air attacks on populated areas and pursue a peaceful political settlement," British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told parliament on Wednesday.

He said the draft resolution was "designed to get a consensus from both sides that allow talks to start before the end of this month in Stockholm".

The rebels overran Sanaa in late 2014, when they also took control of Hodeida and its port.

A year later, the coalition intervened as President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi fled into Saudi exile.

Both parties in the conflict stand accused of acts that could amount to war crimes.

Although Western governments have condemned civilian deaths in Yemen, they remain political and military backers of Saudi Arabia, a regional ally that buys billions of dollars-worth of arms from the United States, Britain, and France.

Those governments have come under growing domestic pressure to scale back arms deliveries since the murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul last month.

The World Health Organization says nearly 10,000 people mostly civilians have been killed in Yemen since the Saudi-led intervention began.

Human rights groups believe the real toll may be five times higher.

Save the Children said Wednesday that based on UN figures, between March 2015 and this October some 85,000 children under five may have died of severe malnutrition or related diseases.