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| Arabia |
| One killed, five wounded after police open fire on demonstrators in Yemen |
| 2009-07-08 |
| [Beirut Daily Star: Region] One protester was killed and five others were injured when police opened fire on a rally in the port city of Aden and detained dozens, opposition members and a local doctor said on Tuesday. Thousands of anti-government protesters took to the streets starting Monday throughout Yemen's south to commemorate the quashing of a 1994 uprising that sought the region's independence. Southerners complain of discrimination by the northern-dominated government. Security forces deployed heavily in Aden Tuesday to prevent protesters from taking to the streets. Still, protesters went out, shouting: "Revolution, revolution, O south." Some protesters pelted the soldiers with stones, according to witnesses who spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared government retribution. Local opposition leader and Parliament member Nasser al-Khabagi in Aden said police opened fire to disperse the crowd, and fired on Walid al-Sunidi, a movement leader in his 20s, as he resisted arrest outside a local hotel. Sunidi died from head wounds, a doctor at Aden's al-Mansoura hospital said, on condition his name not be used because of the tension in the city. No official comment was immediately available on the incident. Khabagi said that the arrest campaign brings the number of people detained since July 1 to around 250. |
| Posted by:Fred |