UN envoy in Yemen for 'sternest' talks as famine stalks

The UN Yemen envoy faced his "sternest test" on Wednesday as he flew into the rebel-held capital Sanaa for talks on averting all-out fighting for the lifeline port of Hodeida and widespread famine.

Under heavy Western pressure, the government and its Saudi-led military backers have largely suspended a five-month-old offensive on the Red Sea port city as UN envoy Martin Griffiths makes the biggest peace push in two years.

But a devastating all-out assault on the city's vital docks still threatens as coalition commanders scent a potentially game-changing victory in their three-and-a-half year war on the Iran-backed Huthi Shiite rebels.

UN agencies say up to 14 million Yemenis are at risk of starvation if the port of Hodeida is closed by fighting or damage.

The city is virtually the sole gateway to the capital and rebel-held territory in the densely populated highlands, and some 80 per cent of commercial food imports and virtually all UN-supervised humanitarian aid pass through its docks.

Griffiths did not comment to waiting reporters on his arrival at Sanaa International Airport, an AFP photographer reported.

He was expected to hold afternoon talks with rebel political leaders as he attempts to revive a peace process that collapsed in acrimony in Switzerland in September when the rebels failed to show up.

The Huthis have said repeatedly that they need stronger security guarantees from the international community that they will be given safe passage through the crippling air and sea blockade the coalition has enforced since March 2015.

The international community is demanding in return that the rebels halt all offensive operations, particularly missile attacks on neighbouring Saudi Arabia, and commit to joining talks on handing over of the port of Hodeida to UN control.

"Griffiths faces the sternest test of his young tenure," said Brussels-based think tank International Crisis Group.

"If his mediation efforts succeed in preventing a destructive battle for Hodeida, he could build momentum toward reviving a peace process that has been stalled for the past two years.

"But if he fails, peace in Yemen will look increasingly remote and the prospects for its embattled population increasingly dire."