2018 ARAB NEWS June 28, 2018 15:25 683 LONDON: The Saudi-led coalition said Thursday that permits continue to be granted to ships heading to Yemen"s Hodeidah port. It also said that five ships have been anchored in the port to unload their cargo and another five ships are waiting to enter it. Earlier, UN envoy Martin Griffiths met with President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, whose troops are battling the country’s Houthi rebels for control of the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, in the latest round of talks aimed at containing the escalating violence. “President Hadi insisted on the need for the Houthis to withdraw completely and without conditions from Hodeidah, or face a military solution,” a Yemeni government source told AFP, requesting anonymity. Yemen’s government has also demanded a “full withdrawal from the province of Hodeidah, including the port” in a statement carried by state news agency Saba Wednesday. Hodeidah, home to the country’s most valuable port, is at the center of a weeks-long military offensive by the Yemeni government and its regional allies, led by the United Arab Emirates on the ground. (With agencies)