Friday, May 22, 2009

Re: [afro-asiareport] YEMEN: "3 killed in Yemen clashes"


 
palashcbiswas,
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From: asianconflictreport <asianconflictreport@yahoo.co.uk>
To: afro-asiareport@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, 22 May, 2009 17:45:50
Subject: [afro-asiareport] YEMEN: "3 killed in Yemen clashes"



3 killed in Yemen clashes
http://www.dailytim es.com.pk/ default.asp? page=2009\05\22\story_ 22-5-2009_ pg4_8

SANAA: Three people were killed by gunfire and 30 wounded in clashes Thursday between Yemen police and demonstrators in the southern city of Aden, police said.

The violence broke out on the eve of the 19th anniversary of the unification of north and south Yemen in May 1990, and as a military parade to mark the event was taking place in the capital Sanaa. "Three people were killed and 30 others wounded when the security forces intervened to disperse a demonstration, " in an Aden neighbourhood, a police official told AFP by telephone from the southern city.

Witnesses said police fired live rounds and teargas at some 3,000 protesters who were demonstrating against worsening living conditions in the south of the impoverished Arab peninsula country. afp

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Yemen celebrates unity as separatists die in protest
Police open fire on demonstrators in south
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Friday, May 22, 2009
http://www.dailysta r.com.lb/ article.asp? edition_id= 10&categ_ id=2&article_ id=102215

SANAA: The Yemeni government celebrated Thursday the 19th anniversary of the country's unification with a massive display of military power, as police clashed with separatist demonstrators in the south. In Sanaa, 30,000 men and a cavalcade of military hardware paraded through one of the main avenues, while in the south's biggest city of Aden three people were killed and 30 wounded when police opened fire to disperse protesters.

The new bloody confrontations, which also saw 120 people arrested as police sought to break up a 3,000-strong rally, followed violence in the south in late April and early May that left eight people dead, including four soldiers.

Thursday's events highlighted the explosive mood in the south, where living conditions are far worse than in the rest of the country, one of the poorest in the world, and where supporters of independence remain numerous.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh's government also faces the risk of a renewed Shiite rebellion in the north, and the "show of might" in Sanaa by was intended as a clear message to the government's enemies, a diplomat told AFP.

"The message has been sent," the diplomat said.

The president has warned against the risks of Yemen breaking up into "several entities" amid trouble in the south over the past year.

North and South Yemen were unified on May 22, 1990, but the commemoration took place a day early as the actual anniversary falls on Friday, the Muslim holy day.

The marching troops, mainly from the elite Republican Guards, special forces and the first armored division, paraded past Saleh, who sat behind a bullet-proof glass wall, and an audience of diplomats and thousands of Yemenis.

Equipment on show in the hour-long procession was mainly Russian manufactured, including old T-55 and T-62 tanks, newer T-80 tanks as well as MiG-29 fighter planes.

Established in 1967 after the departure of the British, South Yemen merged in 1990 with the North, led since 1978 by Saleh, who then became the president of the new republic.

An attempt at secession in the south in 1994 was crushed by the northern army, supported by Islamist fighters back from Afghanistan.

The south's population of 4 million are vastly outnumbered by the north's 20 million people and southerners complain of jobs and land being reserved for the northerners.

Anger has burst out again in the past few months as the economic crisis had started to have an impact.

Protests against the north have been spearheaded by the Southern Movement, a loose organization of groups opposed to the Sanaa government throughout the south, but with no clear leadership.

On Thursday, the demonstrators wanted to go into Aden city to protest against worsening living conditions.

But as they arrived in the neighborhood of Sheikh Othman, they were blocked by police, who fired live bullets and tear gas at them.

The protest broke up when police intervened but a group of demonstrators headed toward a hospital where the casualties were taken, the witnesses said.

Merchants in the area closed their shops while police were seen deploying reinforcements, residents said.

If the situation deteriorates further, "they [the government] will send more troops, that's for sure," a diplomat said. - AFP

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