Nov 24, 2018

United Nations envoy Martin Griffiths met a Yemeni rebel leader in insurgent-held Sanaa Saturday and is to follow up by holding talks with Yemen's government in Riyadh, a UN source said.

The source said Griffiths will hold talks on Monday in the Saudi capital, where Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and other officials have taken up residence.

On Saturday, Mohammed Ali al-Huthi, head of the Huthi rebels' Higher Revolutionary Committee, met in Sanaa with the UN envoy, an AFP photographer said.

"We hope that his (Griffiths's) visit to Riyadh ends with positive results," Huthi told reporters after their talks.

Griffiths arrived Wednesday in Yemen ahead of planned peace talks in Sweden in December between the Iran-aligned Huthi rebels and pro-government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition.