The official says Thursday's protests
drew thousands to the streets in several towns in the province of Aden.
The official says troops detained dozens
of protesters. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized
to talk to the media.
The demonstrations came ahead of a key
meeting of the "Friends of Yemen" donors group in New York on Friday.
The protesters carried flags of former
South Yemen and anti-North placards.
Tribal sources estimated that 8,000
people, most of them carrying firearms, took part in the demonstration in
Loder, shouting slogans against Yemeni unity.
Last month, Loder was the scene of
fierce clashes between Yemeni forces and alleged Al-Qaeda militants as Sanaa
charged that members of the Southern Movement fought alongside Al-Qaeda.
A Southern Movement source said his
supporters "carried arms after the Yemeni army, which has been imposing a
blockade on Loder since August, threatened to crush the demonstration."
"We took arms to defend ourselves," he said.
Protesters in Loder called in a
statement "on south Yemenis to unite in the face of the barbaric military
campaign by the occupation Yemeni forces against the people of Huta city in
Shabwa province," where fierce fighting with suspected Al-Qaeda militants
has been raging over the past six days.
The statement called on the
international community and the "Friends of Yemen" group to
"intervene to resolve the south Yemen issue."
"Resolving the southern cause is
essential to resolving all problems facing Yemen ... Any solution that does not
stipulate a final settlement for south Yemen will be without any value."
Police dispersed a small group of demonstrators Thursday morning in Aden, the
main city in south Yemen, eyewitnesses said.
Southern Movement spokesman Ahmad
Al-Rabeezi said security forces arrested 12 people as they left a meeting in
Aden province, where they were planning for the protests.
Police tightened security in Aden where
supporters of the Southern Movement prepared to stage a demonstration in the
evening, Rabeezi said.
The "Friends of Yemen" group
aims to fight extremism and raise funds to tackle poverty in the Arabian
Peninsula country.
"The (New York) meeting will review
progress since the high-level meeting in London in January (and) give strong
direction to future work of the Friends of Yemen," said a statement from
co-chairs Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Britain.
The ministerial-level meeting will bring
together donor states, other "Friends of Yemen" and Yemeni government
representatives, at a time when the situation in Yemen has worsened.
