Gulf | Yemen
Yemeni opposition leaders in court
A Yemeni court charged three opposition leaders yesterday with inciting violence and calling for secession after riots that left dozens injured in the south of the country last month.
- Reuters
- Published: 00:10 May 29, 2008
- Image Credit: EPA
- Khalid Al Anisi (left), lawyer of the secessionist suspects, speaks before the state security court, as they attend their first hearing in Sana'a, on Wednesday.
Sana'a: A Yemeni court charged three opposition leaders yesterday with inciting violence and calling for secession after riots that left dozens injured in the south of the country last month.
Hassan Baom, Yehya Al Shaiby and Ali Haitham Al Gareeb are all leading members of the Yemeni Socialist Party, which ruled the south of the country before its unification with the north in 1990.
Youths demanding army jobs rioted in several towns in early April, some raising demands for secession in the south, where many people feel marginalised.
Officials said at the time of the riots they were concerned that secessionists and dissidents were seeking to exploit the protests.
Government forces crushed a southern bid to secede in 1994.
The south is home to only a fifth of Yemen's 22 million population but it generates much the country's revenue.
Up to 80 per cent of oil production comes from the area, which also has fisheries and Aden's port and refinery.
Aden, the capital of the former People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, remained calm despite the violent protests nearby.
Yemen is struggling with an ailing economy and an Al Qaida campaign while the government is fighting to crush a four-year-old rebellion in the north and cope with illegal immigrants.
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