Middle East Online ADEN (Yemen)
Thousands rally in Aden to call for secession from north as they commemorate day
south won freedom from Britain
Thousands of Yemenis rallied in the main southern
city of Aden on Wednesday to call for secession from the north as they
commemorated the day the formerly independent south won freedom from Britain.
"The people want to liberate the south," the protesters chanted in
the city which served as the capital of the People's Democratic Republic of
Yemen during its 23 years of independence.
Late on Tuesday, a similar crowd had gathered in the city
brandishing PDRY flags, as well as portraits of Ali Salem al-Baid, who served as
the last president of an independent south before union with the north in 1990
and who now lives in exile.
"No union no federation, out, out occupation," they chanted as
fireworks lit the sky, a correspondent reported.
Baid, who now heads the radical wing of the Southern Movement which
calls for renewed secession, released a statement saying he remains determined
to "continue the struggle until we achieve our national aspirations for
independence."
He urged other states to "support the rights of southerners to
determine their own fate."
The leftist PDRY won independence from Britain in 1967 after a
guerrilla uprising.
Four years after union with the north, it attempted to break away
again, sparking a short-lived civil war that ended with it being overrun by
northern troops.
Many residents of the south complain of discrimination by the Sanaa
government in the distribution of resources, sparking frequent protests, with
demands ranging from economic and social improvements to full independence.
Members of the moderate wing of the Southern Movement, who champion
only increased autonomy, held a meeting last week in Cairo chaired by another
former PDRY president, Ali Nasser Mohammed.
In a statement, they called for a "federation for five years after
which southerners would determine their own fate based on a referendum which
will be held after this period."
The increasingly restive south has been hit not only by the Southern
Movement's campaign for self-rule but also by deadly clashes between the army
and militants loyal to Al-Qaeda who have seized a string of towns in Abyan
province east of Aden and who are also present in neighbouring Shabwa.
The militants have taken advantage of the weakening of central
authority since mass protests broke out in January against the government of
President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in power in Sanaa since 1978.
ليست هناك تعليقات :
إرسال تعليق