Sanaa, Oct 1 (IANS): UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths arrived in the capital Sanaa on Tuesday to meet Houthi rebels over stalled peace talks.

The Houthis this week signalled their readiness for peace, saying they would stop cross-border missile attacks against Saudi Arabia, which backs the exiled internationally-recognized government of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and unilaterally handed over 290 prisoners of war.

Griffiths has been shuttling between Sanaa and Riyadh in attempts to rescue peace talks between the Yemeni rival parties at per Stockholm Agreement, Xinhua news agency reported.

Peace talks between Houthis and the exiled government have been stalled since they reached a UN-sponsored ceasefire agreement in Stockholm in December 2018 over the country's Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.

Both Yemeni warring parties have failed to implement the deal or withdraw their forces from Hodeidah. The Houthis are still holding the port city while the government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition are stationing on the southern outskirts of Hodeidah.

Saudi Arabia has been leading an Arab military coalition against Iran-allied Houthis in Yemen for more than four years in support of the Hadi government.