A small group of people sit on the pavement and wait for getting a chance for physical works in construction in Aden city, Yemen, on November 20, 2018. (Xinhua/Murad Abdu)
ADEN, Yemen, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- In response to the ongoing efforts to hold a new round of peace talks, Yemenis hope that they will finally succeed in ending their four-year suffering from war, violence and poverty.
The Saudi-backed Yemeni government and Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels both declared a temporary halt of fighting to pave the way for the peace talks, which will seek to end the Yemeni civil war that has killed thousands of people and brought the impoverished Arab country to its knees.
The Yemeni citizens in the southern port city of Aden consider the negotiations as a golden opportunity, as they are fed up with the miserable life resulting from the protracted military conflict and violence.
A street vendor tries to sell his vegetables sacks for customers in Aden city, Yemen, on November 20, 2018. (Xinhua/Murad Abdu)
Khaled Fahim, a youth political activist in Aden, said that the ordinary Yemenis "highly aspire to end the conflict as soon as possible because their lives became more miserable."
He told Xinhua that the international community needs to find a political solution to the country's military conflict during the planned peace talks in Sweden in the next weeks.
Fahim stressed that the thing which the Yemeni citizens will never accept "is the lack of seriousness from the international community to lead the negotiations to success through using their political pressures on local Yemeni leaders."
"The past negotiations failed because the international community had no willingness to support the people in Yemen and end their suffering," said Fahim.
Mohamed Abdul-Qawi, an soldier with the pro-government Giants Brigades who was wounded while fighting the Houthis in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, urged the two warring sides "to stop the fighting that brings about more catastrophes."
"I realized that the ongoing military operations don't solve the problem but only create more complicated things every day," he told Xinhua.
A clothing store owner waits for customers at a market in Aden city, Yemen, on November 20, 2018. (Xinhua/Murad Abdu)
Kamal Ahmed, a primary school student in Aden, still remembers the ferocious fighting and airstrikes that hit the city during the fighting between government forces and the Houthis who withdrew in 2015 after losing the battle.
"Fighting made us as children suffer from displacement and I still remember sleeping hungry without food during the previous war in Aden," Kamal told Xinhua.
"I don't want the children in other provinces to experience the same things and suffering that happened with me during the war," he said.
Nabil bin Saeed, a displaced citizen who works as a street vendor in Aden, said the new peace talks will be "the last candle of hope" that will enlighten the darkness and bring a better situation for all Yemenis.
"I left my city Hodeidah for fear of losing my children in the ongoing fighting, but after the success of the next negotiations, everything will be resolved," Saeed told Xinhua.
He demanded the Yemeni political parties and decision-makers work hard to make the peace talks a success, because "no more chances will come."
The Saudi-backed Yemeni government announced Monday to take part in the peace talks, while calling on the UN to pressure the Houthi rebels to attend the negotiations without placing preconditions.
On Friday, UN Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths said that he plans to visit Hodeidah to work toward a UN supervision over the Yemeni port that handles 80 percent of the humanitarian aid to the war-torn country.
Griffiths told the Security Council he intends to convene the new round of peace talks between the warring factions "shortly" in Sweden in a bid to end the military conflict in Yemen.
The fighting for the control of the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah erupted following the collapse of the peacemaking efforts by the UN in Geneva on Sept. 8, as the Houthi rebels refused to attend.
The Yemeni troops made significant gains and advanced to near the city center in Hodeidah during the past few days, but the fighting with Houthi rebels was temporarily halted for humanitarian purposes despite sporadic attacks.
The military conflict in Yemen began with the 2014 takeover of the capital of Sanaa by the Houthis, which forced Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile. The Saudi-led coalition allied with the government has been fighting the Houthis since 2015.
