Sanaa, March 09: Yemen’s president warned southern separatists who demand the independence of the south that they will be defeated but also offered to engage in dialogue over their demands, state media said Tuesday.
“The separatist flags are going to burn in the coming days and weeks,” president Ali Abdullah Saleh told top military ranks Monday, according to defence ministry news website 26Sep.net.
Saleh spoke after security forces cracked down on activists of the separatist movement in several southern towns that were part of the former South Yemen.
But the Yemeni leader offered to talk to the secessionists about their political demands. Southerners complain of economic and social discrimination at the hands of the northern-controlled government.
“If there are any political demands, they are welcome. Come to dialogue,” he said.
“Now, we are going to form local committees to talk to these forces, if they accept dialogue,” he added, stressing that “real demands” will be welcome.
“We reject the spreading of the culture of hate, racism, and regionalism,” he added.
Pro-independence protests have multiplied in the south amid Yemen’s worsening economic situation.
South Yemen was independent from 1967 until it united with the north in 1990. The south seceded in 1994, sparking a short-lived civil war that ended when the south was overrun by northern troops.
—Agencies