يوم الاسير الجنوبي في "وكالات الانباء و الصحافةِ"23-9-2010

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Thu, Sep 23, 2010, 16:33 GMT Thousands protest in south Yemen ahead of key meeting



ADEN, Sep 23, 2010 (AFP) - Thousands of supporters of Yemen's Southern Movement demonstrated on Thursday ahead of a key meeting of the "Friends of Yemen" donors group in New York, local officials and witnesses said.
Prostestors in several cities, including the restive Loder, carried flags of former South Yemen and anti-North placards, the officials told AFP.
Tribal sources estimated that 8,000 people, most of them carrying firearms, took part in the demonstration in Loder, shouting slogans against Yemeni unity.
Last month, Loder was the scene of fierce clashes between Yemeni forces and alleged Al-Qaeda militants as Sanaa charged that members of the Southern Movement fought alongside Al-Qaeda.
A Southern Movement source told AFP his supporters "carried arms after the Yemeni army, which has been imposing a blockade on Loder since August, threatened to crush the demonstration."
"We took arms to defend ourselves," he said.
Protestors in Loder called in a statement "on south Yemenis to unite in the face of the barbaric military campaign by the occupation Yemeni forces against the people of Huta city in Shabwa province," where fierce fighting with suspected Al-Qaeda militants has been raging over the past six days .
The statement called on the international community and the "Friends of Yemen" group to "intervene to resolve the south Yemen issue."
"Resolving the southern cause is essential to resolving all problems facing Yemen ... Any solution that does not stipulate a final settlement for south Yemen will be without any value."
Police dispersed a small group of demonstrators Thursday morning in Aden, the main city in south Yemen, eyewitnesses said.
Southern Movement spokesman Ahmad al-Rabeezi told AFP security forces arrested 12 militants as they left a meeting in Aden province, where they were planning for the protests, Rabeezi said.
Police tightened security in Aden where supporters of the Southern Movement prepared to stage a demonstration in the evening, Rabeezi said.
South Yemen, where many residents complain of discrimination by the Sanaa government in the al of resources, is the scene of frequent unrest.
The region was independent from 1967 until 1990 when it united with the north. It launched an abortive secession bid in 1994.
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© Copyright AFP 2010.



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