Man killed planting bomb in polling booth, official says

Aden A man was killed Tuesday when a bomb exploded as he was planting it in a polling booth in Yemen's southern city of Aden, a security official said, a week ahead of referendum-like presidential elections.

"An unknown man trying to plant an explosive device in a polling booth in the neighbourhood of Crater… was killed when it exploded," the official said, requesting anonymity.

Security forces were swiftly deployed across Crater, especially near election committees' headquarters, the official said.

"We cannot accuse anyone yet but the extremist factions of the [separatist] Southern Movement led by [Yemen Socialist Party's former leader] Ali Salem Al Beidh are trying to hamper the elections," he said.

Call for boycott

Activists from the Southern Movement who say the February 21 election fails to meet their aspirations for autonomy or southern independence, have been campaigning for a boycott of the election, while Al Beidh's followers openly call for actions to prevent the poll from taking place at all.

The elections are taking place under a Gulf-brokered power transfer deal under which President Ali Abdullah Saleh agreed to hand power to his deputy, Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, in return for immunity from prosecution for himself and his aides.

On Thursday, security forces shot dead two southern activists during a protest in the southern town of Daleh against the presidential election, witnesses and activists said.