Yemen arrests 21 suspected separatists
Sunday, February 28, 2010 6:51 AM

Yemeni forces detain separatists

Sunday, 28 February 2010 15:30
Security forces arrested 21 separatists trying to provoke rioting during demonstrations in a southern provincial capital as Yemen increased security to guard against attacks.
Hundreds of people demonstrated in Dalea yesterday against earlier arrests, with some carrying the flag of the former South Yemen, which united with the North in 1990, residents and pro-southern websites said.
'The chief of security in Dalea said security forces were able to prevent and disperse a number of 'elements' attempting to cause chaos, riot, and who were chanting slogans aiming at spreading hatred and causing division,' the defence ministry said in its online newspaper today.
Advertisement

Yemen, the poorest Arab country, struck a truce on 11 February with rebels who have been fighting over religious, economic, and social grievances in the north.
Yesterday it imposed tougher security measures in Dalea, where separatist tensions have been rising.
These included a ban on carrying weapons in public, two days after a policeman was shot dead in an ambush in a nearby province.
The policeman's death on Thursday brought to four the number of people killed in attacks on security personnel in the south in a week as authorities mounted arrest sweeps targeting separatists.
People in the south, home to most Yemeni oil facilities, complain that northerners have abused the 1990 agreement uniting the country to grab resources and discriminate against them.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0228/yemen.html

South Yemenis demand independence 28 Feb 2010 18:51http://www.einnews.com/graphics/logo/einnews.jpg

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/wo...t/28yemen.html
Men in Habilain, Yemen, chewed qat, a mild narcotic, under a depiction of the flag of the formerly independent South Yemen. Under it was written “The South.”
By ROBERT F. WORTH

Published: February 27, 2010

• Sign in to Recommend
• Twitter<LI class=email>Sign In to E-Mail <LI class=print>Print <LI class=singlePage>Single Page
• Reprints
• ShareClose
  • Linkedin
  • Digg
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • MySpace
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Permalink

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/adx/ima...ance_July9.gif



ADEN, Yemen — Less than an hour’s drive outside this dilapidated port town, the Yemeni government’s authority is scarcely visible, and a different flag appears, that of the old independent state of South Yemen.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/...icleInline.jpg
The New York Times

Signs of the legacy of British rule are visible around Aden.


The flags are one sign of a rapidly spreading protest movement across the south that now threatens to turn into a violent insurgency if its demands are not met. That could further destabilize Yemen, already the poorest and one of the most troubled countries in the Arab world, and create a broader haven for Al Qaeda here.
The movement’s leaders say the Yemeni government — based in the north — has systematically discriminated against the south, expropriating land, expelling southerners from their jobs and starving them of public money. They speak with deep nostalgia of the 128-year British occupation in South Yemen, saying the British, who withdrew in 1967, fostered the rule of law, tolerance and prosperity. The north, they say, respects only the gun.
In recent months, calls for secession have grown louder after a harsh government crackdown on demonstrations and opposition newspapers. The movement’s leaders say that they believe in peaceful protest, but that their ability to control younger and more violent supporters is fraying.
“It is too late for half measures or reforms,” said Zahra Saleh Abdullah, one of the few Southern Movement leaders who agreed to be identified in print. “We demand an independent southern republic, and we have the right to defend ourselves if they continue to kill us and imprison us.”
Another movement leader, sitting across the room, held up a coin minted under the British in 1964 and pointed to the words engraved on it: South Arabia.
“This is our true identity, not Yemen,” he said. “A southern republic or death.”
Public outrage swelled last month after Yemeni security forces laid siege to the house of a prominent newspaper editor in Aden, setting off a barrage of rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire as the editor and his young children cowered inside. (The government said he was stockpiling weapons.) They were not injured, but the clash left at least one of the family’s guards dead and others wounded, fueling more demonstrations. All told, more than 100 people have been killed in clashes with the police since the movement began in 2007, its leaders say, and about 1,500 supporters remain in prison.
In some rural areas of South Yemen, police officers refuse to wear their uniforms for fear of being shot, according to several accounts from local residents.
The Yemeni government has largely dismissed the movement as a small band of malcontents and has repeatedly accused its leaders of being affiliated with Al Qaeda.
The movement’s leaders call that an outrageous perversion of the truth: they say that they stand for law, tolerance and democracy, and that it is the north that has a history of using jihadists as proxy warriors. But some human rights workers say a shared hatred of the government could be creating a sense of unity between some members of the movement — which is broad and very loosely organized — and members of Al Qaeda.
Perhaps a greater danger, some say, is the spread of lawlessness across the south if the movement’s demands for greater equity are not addressed and it grows more violent. The movement’s own internal contradictions also pose a real threat.
“There is no clear leadership, everyone wants to be the boss,” said Afra Khaled Hariri, a lawyer here who has represented arrested members of the movement. The movement’s leaders include socialists and Islamists with wildly different goals and unresolved disputes dating to internal conflicts between socialist factions that left thousands of southerners dead during the 1980s.
“If the movement succeeds in making a separate state, I expect disaster because of our bloody past,” Ms. Hariri said. And Aden — the heart of the British protectorate and the base of the south’s intelligentsia — would be the chief victim, she added.
For that reason, some in the south say, the best solution is not secession, but a political accommodation in which the north agrees to address some of the movement’s main grievances about land expropriation and job discrimination. Many also say that moving away from Yemen’s highly centralized system of government and granting the provinces more power to govern themselves would ease tensions.
So far the government has shown little sign it intends to do that.

http://www.bt.com.bn/en/files/images...go-e-paper.gif
Thousands in South Yemen rally for independence



http://www.bt.com.bn/en/files/images...8/an0zq_c7.jpg Protesters shout anti-government slogans while holding up flags of former South Yemen and posters of its former president Ali Salem al-Beidh during a rally in the southern town of al-Habileen yesterday. Picture: Reuters



SANAA

Sunday, February 28, 2010
THOUSANDS rallied across south Yemen yesterday after an appeal from the last president of the independent south for them to send international donors a message they want their state back.

Ali Salem al-Baid, who led the south to unity with the north in 1990, called on Friday for "two days of southern anger" to coincide with a major Yemen donors' meeting in neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

Brandishing flags of the former south and of Saudi Arabia, crowds took to the streets of the major towns of the provinces of Dhaleh, Lahij, Abyan and Hadramawt where businesses remained closed for fear of clashes with security forces, witnesses and local officials said.

In Abyan, three civilians suffered bullet wounds when police moved to stop demonstrators cutting the highway between the provincial capital Zinjibar and the south's main city Aden, witnesses said.

Southern Islamist leader Tareq al-Fadhli called on demonstrators in the centre of Zinjibar "to continue your struggle until the south is freed from Yemeni occupation."

Fadhli promised "victory soon" over the Sanaa government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Protestors also demonstrated in the town of Lauder further northeast, witnesses said.

In Dhaleh, thousands gathered in defiance of a curfew which had been imposed overnight. Police stopped only vehicle traffic from circulating, residents said.

In Lahej, thousands demonstrated in the towns of Hutah and Al-Habilain, and rallies were held in Mukallah, the main city of Hadramawt.

In his appeal from exile, the former southern leader had called for mass protests to coincide with the two-day meeting in the Saudi capital Riyadh, which gathers Yemen's wealthy Gulf neighbours and its other major donors.

"I call on you over the next two days to send a message to our Arab brothers and to the representatives of the international community gathered in Riyadh underlining your rejection of the occupation and your commitment to self-determination," Baid said.

"Our only weapon is our determination to recover our rights whatever the cost," he said, adding: "We will succeed in regaining our independence."

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. AFP
http://www.bt.com.bn/en/news-world/2...y-independence

Yemen arrests 21 in south, protests go on
28 Feb 2010 14:24:25 GMT
Source: Reuters

</SPAN> * Demonstrations across south for second day
* Protests coincide with donors meeting in Riyadh
* Security forces arrest 21 protesters in Dalea
(Updates with protests, previous DUBAI)
By Mohammed Mokhashaf
ADEN, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Separatists demonstrated in southern Yemen on Sunday after security forces arrested 21 people accused of rioting, residents and officials said.
People travelling to Aden said demonstrations continued for a second day in the main southern city and in the provinces of Abyan and Dalea, also in the south of the poorest Arab country.
Demonstrators, some carrying the flag of the former South Yemen which united with the north in 1990, blocked the main road linking Aden with Dalea, they said.
Security forces arrested 21 people in the provincial capital of Dalea on Saturday as hundreds protested against earlier arrests, a Defence Ministry website said.
The protests were timed to coincide with a two-day meeting of Yemen donors in the Saudi capital Riyadh. Marchers and speakers at rallies called on the meeting to address the unresolved conflict in the south.
"The chief of security in Dalea said security forces were able to prevent and disperse a number of elements attempting to cause chaos, riot, and who were chanting slogans aimed at spreading hatred and causing division," the website said.
On Saturday, authorities imposed tougher security measures in Dalea, where separatist tensions have been rising. These included a ban on carrying weapons in public, two days after a policeman was shot dead in an ambush in a nearby province.
The policeman's death brought to four the number of people killed in attacks on security personnel in the south in a week as authorities mounted arrest sweeps targeting separatists.
People in the south, home to most Yemeni oil facilities, complain that northerners have abused the 1990 agreement uniting the country to grab resources and discriminate against them.
On Feb. 11, Yemen struck a truce with Shi'ite rebels in the north of the country who have been fighting over religious, economic and social grievances, a conflict that had drawn in neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
Western nations and Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, fear al Qaeda is using the chaos in Yemen to recruit and train militants for attacks in the region and beyond.
The Yemeni arm of al Qaeda claimed responsibility for a failed attempt to bring down a U.S. airliner in December. (Additional reporting by Jason Benham in Dubai; Editing by Janet Lawrence)


Background information



Facts & figures
[IMG]http://www.*****net.org/images/arrow.gif[/IMG]Yemen [IMG]http://www.*****net.org/images/arrow.gif[/IMG]Saudi Arabia


Related articles



Breaking stories
Asia[IMG]http://www.*****net.org/images/arrow.gif[/IMG] Indian leader seeks regional cooperation in Saudi visit Source: Reuters (4.5 hours ago)

Middle East[IMG]http://www.*****net.org/images/arrow.gif[/IMG] Yemen arrests 21 in south, protests go on Source: Reuters (5.5 hours ago)

*****Net insight
Africa[IMG]http://www.*****net.org/images/arrow.gif[/IMG] WFP targets under-twos in malnutrition fight Author: Katie Nguyen (2 days ago)

Aid agency news feed
Middle East[IMG]http://www.*****net.org/images/arrow.gif[/IMG] Yemen: Islamic Relief opens second camp for displaced people as conflict continues Source: Islamic Relief - Worldwide (18 days ago)






Boys dressed in flags of former South Yemen stand on the roof of a buliding during a rally in the southern city of Dalea February 28, 2010. Security forces arrested 21 ...




[IMG]http://www.*****net.org/images/rtrfndn_*****net_new_tr.gif[/IMG]

Boys dressed in flags of former South Yemen stand on the roof of a buliding during a rally in the southern city of Dalea
28 Feb 2010

Source: Reuters


[IMG]http://www.*****net.org/thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2010-02-28T124056Z_01_SAN06_RTRIDSP_2_YEMEN-ARRESTS_articleimage.jpg[/IMG]

Boys dressed in flags of former South Yemen stand on the roof of a buliding during a rally in the southern city of Dalea February 28, 2010. Security forces arrested 21 separatists trying to provoke rioting during demonstrations in a southern provincial capital as Yemen increased security to guard against attacks, the government said on Sunday. REUTERS/Stringer (YEMEN - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)
REUTERS/STRINGER BEIJING

Girl holds up AK-47 rifle as she takes part in protest in al-Habileen town in the southern Yemeni province of Lahj
28 Feb 2010

Source: Reuters


[IMG]http://www.*****net.org/thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2010-02-28T095505Z_01_SAN03_RTRIDSP_2_YEMEN-ARRESTS_articleimage.jpg[/IMG]

A girl holds up an AK-47 rifle as she takes part in protest in al-Habileen town in the southern Yemeni province of Lahj February 28, 2010. Security forces arrested 21 separatists trying to provoke rioting during demonstrations in a southern provincial capital as Yemen increased security to guard against attacks, the government said on Sunday. REUTERS/Stringer (YEMEN - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)
REUTERS/STR

Prostesters shout slogans during anti-government rally in Zinjibar city in the soutnern Yemeni province of Abyan
28 Feb 2010

Source: Reuters


[IMG]http://www.*****net.org/thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2010-02-28T100625Z_01_SAN05_RTRIDSP_2_YEMEN-ARRESTS_articleimage.jpg[/IMG]

Protesters shout anti-government slogans and hold up flags of former South Yemen and posters of its former president Ali Salem al-Beidh as they take part in a rally in Zinjibar city in the soutnern Abyan province February 28, 2010. Security forces arrested 21 separatists trying to provoke rioting during demonstrations in a southern provincial capital as Yemen increased security to guard against attacks, the government said on Sunday. REUTERS/Stringer (YEMEN - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)
REUTERS/STR

Protesters rally in the southern Yemeni town of al-Habileen
28 Feb 2010

Source: Reuters


[IMG]http://www.*****net.org/thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2010-02-28T095534Z_01_SAN02_RTRIDSP_2_YEMEN-ARRESTS_articleimage.jpg[/IMG]

Protesters shout anti-government slogans as they hold up flags of former South Yemen and posters of its former president Ali Salem al-Beidh during a rally in the southern town of al-Habileen February 28, 2010. Security forces arrested 21 separatists trying to provoke rioting during demonstrations in a southern provincial capital as Yemen increased security to guard against attacks, the government said on Sunday. REUTERS/Stringer (YEMEN - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)
REUTERS/STR