The United Nations has submitted proposals on two Yemeni cities caught in a bitter conflict - the port city of Hodeida and besieged Taiz - to warring parties at UN-sponsored talks in Sweden.
The Yemeni government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia and its military allies, has been battling the Iran-backed Huthi rebels for control of Yemen for nearly four years, pushing the impoverished country to the brink of famine.
The warring parties are in Sweden for talks expected to continue until the end of this week, the first since more than three months of negotiations collapsed in 2016.
The UN special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, on Monday said the talks would be the first of "many rounds".
Under discussion in Sweden are the fate of the rebel-held port city of Hodeida, vital to aid and food imports, and Yemen's third-largest city Taiz, the scene of some of the country's most intense battles.
Yemenis take part in a protest calling for the reopening of Sanaa airport to receive medical aid, in front of the U.N. offices in Sanaa, Yemen. Source: AP
Other issues on the table include humanitarian corridors, the reopening of the defunct Sanaa international airport and a massive prisoner swap.
'Lift threat of war'
Implementation will be overseen by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
UN envoy Griffiths said the swap had proved the least contentious issue, adding that he hoped it "will be very very considerable in terms of the numbers that we hope to get released within a few weeks".
The fight for Taiz and Hodeida, however, shows no sign of waning.
"These are two major population zones in Yemen caught in war," Griffiths told reporters on Monday.
"I'm hopeful that we can reach agreements on the de-escalation to reduce the fighting in both places... . We're not there yet."
Initial drafts of the proposals on Hodeida and Taiz, seen by AFP Monday, call for a mutual ceasefire between the two parties.
Special Envoy for Yemen of the UN Secretary General Martin Griffith. Source: AP
The Hodeida draft stipulated that the Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Huthis would cease an offensive on the rebel-held city in exchange for a Huthi withdrawal.
The area would then be put under the control of a joint committee and supervised by the United Nations. The document does not propose the deployment of UN peacekeeping troops.
Griffiths said the UN had since simplified that draft, which is still under study by the Yemeni delegations.
"We are always redrafting, so some of those documents that you've seen" have changed, Griffiths told reporters.
Military operations ongoing
The Saudi-led coalition on Monday said military operations were ongoing in Hodeida, as the Sweden talks entered their fifth day.
"The rebels have fortified their defence lines inside Hodeida city," said coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki. "We are working to create safe humanitarian corridors from Hodeida to Sanaa."
The UN has regularly urged the Saudi-led coalition to suspend operations in the densely-populated city, home to 600,000 people and a traditional conduit for 90 percent of food imports to Yemen.
The port city has since June been at the heart of a government offensive to drive the rebels out.
Aid groups have warned the destruction of Hodeida would worsen the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where the UN estimates 14 million people face starvation.
Yemeni pro-government forces take a position during clashes in the port city of Hodeidah, Yemen. Source: AP
The initial UN draft proposals for the southwestern city of Tai, under the control of pro-government forces but besieged by the rebels, called for an unconditional ceasefire, a joint working group that includes the UN to monitor it, and the reopening of all roads and Taiz airport for humanitarian operations.
The World Health Organization says nearly 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen since 2015, when Saudi Arabia and its allies joined President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's fight against the Huthis. Other rights groups say the toll could be as high as 50,000.
The conflict has triggered what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis - with children starving to death, recruited as child soldiers and bartered off as child brides.
