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Johannesberg Castle in Rimbo, Sweden, December 4, 2018, where the peace talks on Yemen will be held. TT News Agency / Janerik Henriksson via REUTERS

Talks to try to get peace in Yemen will begin this Thursday in Stockholm, Sweden. It's a new chance to stop this war that has been tearing the country apart since 2014 and has claimed at least 10,000 lives. The Nordic kingdom will try to do better than Switzerland, where previous negotiations had failed last September.

With our correspondent in Stockholm, Frédéric Faux

A first plane landed in Stockholm on Tuesday with a rebel delegation and UN mediator Martin Griffiths of Britain. A second arrived on Wednesday with twelve representatives of the Yemeni government.

The two delegations will meet at the Royal Castle Rimbo, north of Stockholm, to try to end the war that is tearing Yemen apart.

Sweden, officially, is content to host these negotiations at the request of the United Nations . But she hopes to do better than Switzerland, which did not even convince the Houthi rebels to come to the negotiating table last September.

The Nordic kingdom, which cultivates its neutrality, however, will have much to do to obtain a favorable outcome.

The fighting between the Houthis, backed by Iran, and the Yemeni government, supported by Saudi Arabia, has caused the UN the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, with 14 million people facing famine.

And the Swedes have not forgotten that previous negotiations held in Kuwait in 2016 failed after 108 days of negotiations.

Talks and regional issue

On the one hand, there is the loyalist camp, recognized by the international community and supported militarily by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries in the region. On the other side, the rebel camp, the Yemeni Houthi movement, a minority of the Shia minority, which controls vast areas including the capital Sanaa. This is not the first attempt to resolve the conflict in Yemen, but the international context is different this time.

Since the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Arabia and his crown prince are facing new pressure from Western allies in the kingdom.

Excited by the methods of the unpredictable Mohammed bin Salman, Americans and Europeans have given voice in recent weeks calling for the end of the war in Yemen. It remains to be seen if the Saudi kingdom is ready for a de-escalation.

It's been three and a half years since Riyadh took the lead in a coalition fighting the Houthi rebellion in Yemen. In this country is played part of the regional arm wrestling between Saudi Arabia and Iran: Riyadh accuses Tehran of arming the rebels, including providing them with long-range missiles.

Neither Saudi Arabia nor Iran are invited this week in Sweden, only the Yemeni delegations - Loyalists and rebels - and the United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths.