Yemen's warring parties willing to talk, says UN

Sanaa - Griffiths has been talking to both sides to prevent an all-out bloodbath in Hodeida.

Yemen's warring parties have confirmed their willingness to restart negotiations after a two-year hiatus, the UN special envoy for Yemen said even as fighting raged along the country's west coast over a key port city.
Martin Griffiths told the UN radio late on Thursday that he plans to bring Yemen?s Houthi militias and the country's internationally recognised government backed by a Saudi-led coalition to the negotiating table within the next few weeks "at the very latest."
He said he hopes the UN Security Council will come up with a plan next week and present it to the Yemenis. Griffiths has been talking to both sides to prevent an all-out bloodbath in Hodeida, which is a lifeline for Yemen's population. He visited Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in the southern city of Aden. He also met with the Houthi militia chief negotiator Mohammed Abdul Salam. 

• MENA