Yemen Frees 82 Southern Prisoners

AFP

“Eighty-two prisoners were freed in Al-Mukalla,” the main city in the southeastern province of Hadramawt, “on the orders of President Ali Abdullah Saleh after the deal was signed with the opposition,” the official said.

All of those released have “participated in protests” in support of Yemen’s Southern Movement, the official added, referring to a coalition of groups with demands ranging from greater autonomy to full independence for the south.

The agreement to embark on a national dialogue was signed on Saturday with the opposition Common Forum, which groups the main Islamist opposition — Al-Islah (Reform) — the Yemen Socialist Party — which was once the ruling faction in the formerly independent south — as well as other smaller groups.

It focuses on mechanisms to implement a February 2009 accord for national dialogue and the postponement of a parliamentary election until April 2011 to allow time to amend Yemen’s constitution and restructure its political system.

The Yemeni president said on Saturday that the new agreement was “a positive step towards political detente.” Saleh also renewed calls for the opposition to join a national unity government.

In May, he invited all political groups inside and outside Yemen to a “responsible national dialogue, within the framework of constitutional institutions.”

Officials in the region estimate that some 300 southern activists are in custody.

South Yemen was independent from British withdrawal from the region in 1967 until it united with the north in 1990. The south seceded in 1994, sparking a short civil war that ended with the region overrun by northern troops.

Residents of the south, who complain of discrimination by the Sanaa government in the allocation of resources, have held repeated protests in recent months, periodically resulting in deadly clashes.