UN chief announces cease-fire for Yemen port at peace talks

UN chief Antonio Guterres announced Thursday a series of breakthroughs in talks with rivals in the Yemen conflict, including a cease-fire for a vital port.

The Yemeni Foreign Minister and the rebel leader shook hands in a highly symbolic gesture on the seventh day of the UN-brokered peace talks in Sweden.

The conflict has triggered what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with 14 million Yemenis now at the brink of mass starvation.

Guterres, who flew in to Sweden late Wednesday, announced that the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels had agreed on a cease-fire in the port of Hodeida, the main entry point for imported food and aid.

He said the UN would play a “leading role” at the Red Sea port, which is currently controlled by the rebels. In addition, the rivals have reached a “mutual understanding” on Yemen’s third city of Taiz, the scene of some of the most intense battles in the conflict.

He said a new round of talks would take place at the end of January.

International pressure has been mounting to halt the fighting between the Iran-linked Houthis and the government of Abed Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, backed by Saudi Arabia and its military allies, with the US Senate, Saudi Arabia and the UAE honing in on the fragile talks.

The warring parties have been in the rural Swedish village of Rimbo for a week to try to hammer out agreement on a number of key issues.

A source inside the talks had said that mediators remained “positive” although there was “disagreement on the points of the proposals.”

The rebels control both the Red Sea port of Hodeida and the capital Sanaa. The Saudi ledmilitary coalition controls Yemen’s maritime borders and airspace.