?Convoy of the UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths leaves the Sanaa Airport in Sanaa, Yemen, Jan. 28, 2019. The UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths arrived on Monday in Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa to break a stalemate in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah. It was Griffiths' third trip to Sanaa this month amid attempts to push forward the implementation of a cease-fire and withdrawal of Yemen's rival forces from the port city in line with a peace deal reached in Stockholm last month. (Xinhua/Mohammed Mohammed)
SANAA, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths arrived on Monday in Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa to break a stalemate in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.
It was Griffiths' third trip to Sanaa this month amid attempts to push forward the implementation of a cease-fire and withdrawal of Yemen's rival forces from the port city in line with a peace deal reached in Stockholm last month.
"Both (Yemeni) parties continue to demonstrate political will in abiding by the Stockholm Agreement, and both parties are constructively and seriously engaged for the full implementation of the Agreement," Griffiths said on his Twitter account.
"We have seen the timelines for implementation extended, both in Hodeidah and the prisoner exchange agreement ... We are dealing with a complex situation on the ground," he added.
On Wednesday, Griffiths, along with Patrick Cammaert, chair of Hodeidah's Redeployment Coordination Committee, met with Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his exiled government in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.
Cammaert returned to Sanaa on Saturday to resume his mission in which he was tasked with leading a joint committee from both Yemeni rival forces to oversee the implementation of the cease-fire in Hodeidah.
The Hodeidah port is the key lifeline and entrance of the majority of food imports and humanitarian aid to impoverished war-torn Yemen.
Under the truce, the withdrawal from the ports of Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Issa as well as critical parts of the city associated with humanitarian facilities should be completed within two weeks after the cease-fire enters into force, while the full withdrawal should be completed within a maximum period of 21 days.
The cease-fire deal went into force on Dec. 18, 2018, but the withdrawal of the rival forces has yet to be fulfilled.
The UN said the discussions have been stalled because of different interpretations of the Stockholm Agreement over who would control key points of Hodeidah during the partial cease-fire.
Saudi Arabia has been leading an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support the internationally-recognized government of Hadi after the Houthi rebels forced him into exile and seized much of the country's north, including Sanaa and Hodeidah.
The four-year war has killed more than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, displaced 3 million others and pushed the country to the brink of famine.
