UN envoy arrives in Yemen to push Hodeida truce

The UN envoy for Yemen arrived in the capital Sanaa on Saturday for talks to shore up a ceasefire in the country's lifeline port city of Hodeida, an AFP photographer said.

Martin Griffiths is scheduled to hold talks in Sanaa with Huthi rebel leaders before visiting Saudi capital Riyadh to meet Yemeni government officials.

While in Sanaa he will also meet retired Dutch general Patrick Cammaert, who has been appointed by the UN to head a truce monitoring team.

Huthi sources said Griffiths would visit Hodeida city on Sunday.

The Red Sea port is the entry point for the majority of imports to Yemen, where more than 22 million people now depend on humanitarian aid to survive.

The UN envoy made no remarks on arrival, but he met five children with chronic diseases who were waiting in ambulances to call for the lifting of the years-old blockade on Sanaa airport.

Huthi rebels say the airport blockade has prevented thousands of Yemeni patients from travelling abroad for treatment.