http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=63266
Thousands protest killing of Yemen tribal chief
Protest organised by alliance of tribes, Southern Movement.
Middle East Online
‚We will not calm down until the occupants are expelled‘
ADEN – Thousands of people Friday took to the streets of the southeastern town of Mukalla to protest the killing of a local tribal chief in clashes with the Yemeni army, witnesses said.
Said Ben Habriche was among six tribesmen killed on December 2 in fighting that erupted when his bodyguards refused to hand over their weapons to soldiers at a checkpoint.
The protest was organised by an alliance of tribes and the Southern Movement which is seeking a return to independence in the south, and the groups said they planned further demonstrations.
Following the end of British colonial rule in 1967, southern Yemen was independent until union with the north in 1990.
This was followed by a secession attempt in 1994 that sparked a brief but bloody civil war.
The conflict ended with an occupation of the south by northern forces that laid the ground for many of the disputes over land and jobs that still fan southern resentment.
„We will not give in, we will not calm down until the occupants are expelled,“ chanted protesters in reference to northerners, according to southern activist Mohamed Charafi.
He said that most shops in Mukalla, the provincial capital of Hadramaut province, were shuttered throughout the day.
A security force said that three southern activists were wounded, two of them seriously, during a firefight with northern street vendors.
Clashes also broke out between southern activists and soldiers manning a checkpoint near oil installation in Massila, north of Mukalla, a military source said. There were no reports of casualties.
But the army dispatched reinforcement to the area and gunfire could be heard intermittently in the early evening, the military source added.
Protesters also took to the streets of Aden, the main southern city, in support of the Mukalla demonstration, a correspondent said.