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Thousands rally for south Yemen independence


Released on - Sunday,28 February , 2010 -12:52

Thousands of Yemenis took to the streets of three provinces for a second successive day on Sunday to demand the independence of the country's south, witnesses said.
The protests in Abyan, Daleh and Lahj provinces were conducted in tandem with a two-day international donors' meeting in neighbouring Saudi Arabia on aiding the Arabian peninsula country.
"Thousands of men and women went out in Lahj province carrying pictures of former vice president Ali Salem al-Bidh and southern flags," a witness said.
Bidh, who led the south to unity with the north in 1990 but is now a major separatist leader, had called on Friday for "two days of southern anger" to coincide with the donors' meeting.
Witnesses said the protests on Sunday were peaceful, without any major confrontations with security forces, which are heavily deployed across the south.
But police fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators in the city of Daleh, witnesses said.
Three Abyan civilians suffered bullet wounds on Saturday when police moved to stop protestors cutting the highway between the provincial capital Zinjibar and the south's main city Aden, witnesses said.
General Ghazi Ali Mohsen, head of security in Daleh province, said 21 "rioters" were arrested in Daleh.
"The subversive elements were carrying weapons and flags and calling" for the secession of the south from the north, Mohsen said.
Pro-independence demonstrations have multiplied in the south in recent months amid a worsening economic situation and complaints of discrimination in favour of northerners by the Sanaa government.
South Yemen was independent from 1967 until 1990, when it united with the north. The south seceded in 1994, sparking a short-lived conflict that ended when the south was overrun by northern troops.
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