ADEN, Yemen, 3 August 2007 — Yemeni police yesterday arrested dozens of people in the southern city of Aden who were trying to demonstrate for better benefits for retired workers, one of the protest organizers said. Police blocked roads leading to a public square in the port city to prevent protesters staging a sit-in there, the source, who declined to be named, said.
A group representing retired workers in the state’s southern and eastern regions said it organized the demonstration to demand “greater rights for more than 60,000 retirees, most of whom were forced to stop work early.”
An Interior Ministry official said the demonstration was unlicensed and that the complaints of retired workers were already being heard by government officials.
In Sanaa, authorities said that one of its nationals carried out a suicide bombing with the help of outside militants at a tourist site last month that killed 10 people, mostly Spaniards.
The bomber was identified as Abdo Rahiqa, who rammed a car packed with explosives into a convoy of Spanish tourists in the restive area of Marib on July 2, the ministry said on its website. Eight Spanish tourists and two local drivers were killed, and six Spanish tourists, two Yemeni drivers and four police guards were wounded.
