Visiting UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths (R) meets with Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, head of Houthi revolutionary committee, in Sanaa, Yemen, Nov. 24, 2018. The Houthi rebels in Yemen on Saturday pledged to attend the upcoming peace talks in Sweden, the Houthi chief said. (Xinhua/Mohammed Mohammed)
SANAA, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Houthi rebels in Yemen on Saturday pledged to attend the upcoming peace talks in Sweden, a Houthi chief said.
The commitment was made by Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, head of Houthi revolutionary committee, during his meeting with visiting UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths in Sanna.
"Griffiths received affirm confirmation from the revolution to support peace efforts and attend peace talks," al-Houthi said in a statement.
"Griffiths told me that he bears good impression from his yesterday's visit to Hodeidah," he added.
There has been no comment from the UN envoy's office.
A day earlier, Griffiths, accompanied by the World Food Program Chief Stephen Anderson and the UN Humanitarian Coordinator Lise Grande, visited the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.
"We have agreed that the UN should now pursue actively and urgently detailed negotiations for a leading UN role in the port and more broadly ... such a role will preserve the essential humanitarian pipeline that starts here and serves the people of Yemen," Griffiths said.
On Wednesday, the UN envoy arrived in Sanaa, Yemen's capital under Houthi control, to try to bring the rebels to the negotiation table.
Hodeidah, the main Red Sea port city which handles 80 percent of Yemen's imports and aid, has witnessed deadly clashes over the past few weeks between the government troops backed by the Saudi-led coalition forces and the Iran-allied Houthi rebels.
The government has been trying to recapture Hodeidah from Houthis who seized it along with much of the country's north in late 2014.
Griffiths urged the UN Security Council on Friday to adopt a humanitarian truce before holding peace talks in Sweden next month.
The clashes in Hodeidah have displaced about 445,000 people since July, according to UN aid agencies.
