Tanks deployed in Yemeni cities to disperse rioters

Sana'a: Tanks have been deployed to the streets of southern Yemen's cities to prevent further rioting by disaffected youths and retired military officers over unfulfilled promises to incorporate them in the army, a Yemeni security official said on Tuesday.

Over the past three days, security forces have arrested dozens of former army officers and lawmakers believed to be leading the demonstrations in the country's southern cities, according to the official.

On Tuesday morning, eyewitnesses said riot police fired in the air to disperse hundreds of demonstrators. Tanks and barricades sealed off main roads, turning the southern cities into ghost towns.

Southerners, who had their own country before unification in 1990, have long complained of being discriminated against by the northerners dominating the government.