SANAA, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Representatives from both Yemeni warring parties met on Sunday on a UN ship on the Red Sea to resume discussions on the implementation of a stalled forces pullout from Yemen's main sea port of Hodeidah as agreed at a December cease-fire deal, sources from both rival parties told Xinhua.
The meeting on a UN ship came as efforts to convene the meeting in territory held by the government forces or the rebels have failed because both sides are not willing to cross the frontline to meet each other, according to the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The meeting was chaired by Danish Lieutenant General Michael Lollesgaard, head of the UN observer team in Hodeidah and chairman of the Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC), which includes the representatives of the government and Houthi group.
The source said that the RCC meetings on the UN ship would continue for two days.
Sunday's meeting was the second face-to-face meeting between the representatives of the warring parties in Hodeidah in two months.
According to the sources, the UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths is expected to meet the Yemeni internationally-recognized President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government in the Saudi capital Riyadh and Houthi rebels in Sanaa within next days to push peace process forward.
Hodeidah is the main Yemeni port city on the Red Sea and key lifeline entry of most Yemen's commercial imports and humanitarian aid.
More than four-year grinding war has pushed over 20 million people to the verge of starvation.
Iran-allied Houthi rebels control much of Hodeidah while the Saudi-backed government troops have advanced to the southeastern districts.
The United Nations is overseeing the deal that reached in Stockholm in December last year between the exiled Yemeni government and Houthi rebels. The deal was seen as the first phase toward achieving a comprehensive political solution to end over four years of civil war.
According to the deal, both warring parties should withdraw their forces from Hodeidah by January 7 to avert a major attack on the port city, but both warring parties have failed to implement the deal, putting the peace agreement in jeopardy and threatening a major battle that could lead to famine.
