Southerners Strike
Photo is from January 7, taken in Yafee, Lahj during a demonstration in support of the southern peaceful movement during which protesters where carrying both the flag of the former P.D.R.Y and the flag of the United States. They were “expressing their open minds and hearts towards all western countries and other cultures and civilizations in the world,” a commenter explained. They were likely hoping to draw support, since as President Obama says, we support people seeking justice.
Today there was a strike in Southern Yemen, a good way to demand civil rights as long as it stays peaceful. Unfortunately there were three injuries to police, unusual for the protests that began in 2007. Normally its the protesters wounded when police open fire.
Al Jazeera Residents in the south of Yemen have staged a general strike to protest government policy and claims of oppression.
A security official on Sunday said three policemen had been wounded in clashes related to the strike.
In the provinces of Dhale, Lahaj, Shabwa and Abyan, all shops were shut and transportation halted for six hours.
Witnesses said the clashes broke out in the city of Dhale, 22km south of the capital, Sanaa, when security forces tried to force shopowners to open the doors of their stores.
Other witnesses said armed men had opened fire on police.
A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the policemen had been injured by members of the southern separatist movement.
“The three policemen were wounded in Dhale city. The three assailants are known to us and security forces are chasing them,” he told the AFP newsagency.
‘Act of disobedience’
Al Jazeera’s Mohamed Vall, reporting from Sanaa, said the strike had been called by the Southern Movement as an “act of disobedience” in protest of the government not responding to their demands.
“The Southern Movement is made up of five groups. They call themselves the Supreme Council of for the Peaceful Revolution, but what heppened today was not quite peaceful.
“Some sporadic clashes happened, particularly in the areas of Dhale and Lahaj.”
Abdo al-Maatari, one of the leaders of the separatist movement in the south, said ahead of the strike that the half-day protest was against “central government oppression” and would be peaceful.
“This protest confirms that we are adopting civilised and peaceful means with regards to the issue of the south,” he told the AFP news agency.
