Former soldiers protest in Yemen

By AHMED AL-HAJJ -- Associated Press Writer

(Updated Thursday, August 2, 2007, 10:56 PM)

ADEN, Yemen (AP) Security forces fired tear gas and water cannons at former soldiers protesting Thursday in this port city demanding to be allowed back in the military and one person was reported killed, eyewitnesses and reporters at the scene said.

The street demonstrations underlined increasing tensions between southern and northern Yemen 13 years after a civil war. The protesters were largely members of the army of south Yemen who were ousted after being defeated by northern forces.

The protests began overnight with demonstrators burning tires in the streets of Aden. Security forces clamped down with roadblocks at entrances into the city to prevent more protesters from coming in from other areas.

The violence erupted Thursday morning as some 1,500 protesters marched toward the central square of downtown Aden. Riot police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons to disperse them. Hundreds of demonstrators also clashed with police in other neighborhoods of the city.

At least three people were wounded, one of whom died later in Aden's Gomhouria Hospital, according to a doctor in the hospital, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

In a statement, police denied any protesters had died. The statement, carried on the state news agency Saba, blamed the incident on "law-breaking elements who entered from neighboring provinces seeking incitement and chaos." Police said there had been dozens of arrests.

The protests were put down after about four hours. A military curfew was imposed in Aden, forcing shops to close. Thousands of government troops and police patrolled the streets.

But organizers threatened further demonstrations, complaining that the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh is ignoring complaints of discrimination against southerners at the hands of the northerner-dominated leadership.

North and South Yemen were united in 1990, with Saleh - who had been the north's president - remaining in his post. In 1994, rebels announced secession of the south battling northern forces for several months in a civil war that ended in their defeat.