[Onthebarricades] GLOBAL UNREST: Oppressed nationalities - Kurds, Basques, Uighur, South Yemenis

[Andy]

*  KURDISTAN/TURKEY:  Police violently attack Kurdish protests on two 
occasions, kill protesters; fightback with stones and burning barricades
*  Protests in support of the PKK after an invasion of northern Iraq are 
followed by four days of clashes when the police attack New Year 
celebrations

NOTE:  Video of the most recent Kurdish protests can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=istH18jifDY

*  KURDISTAN/SYRIA:  Clashes as police attack Kurdish New Year festivities 
[notice the biased coverage, implying protesters were asking for it because 
the event was banned]

*  EUSKAL HERRIA/SPAIN:  Bans on yet more political parties spark protests, 
unrest in Bilbao

*  XINJIANG/CHINA:  Protests over police abuse; women occupy marketplace
[notice that ABC News follows the Chinese line in this case, blaming "Muslim 
extremists" - contrast coverage of Tibet...]

*  YEMEN:  Days of protest over mistreatment of the formerly-independent 
South; failure to enlist former Southern fighters in army triggers street 
protests and clashes; socialist politician issues call to arms

*  BANGLADESH:  Protest by Muslims in Baitul Mukarram over...   not quite 
sure what
[Three radically different accounts of the same incident - seemingly 
undecided over whether the unrest was a bigoted reaction to women's rights, 
or a response to police repression against local groups.  Obviously, which 
of these is the case changes the character of the unrest greatly - though it 
seems clear police initiated the conflict by blocking a previously peaceful 
march, and that they took costs including torched police stations as a 
result]

Publicly Archived at Global Resistance: 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/globalresistance


http://www.iraqupdates.com/p_articles.php/article/27532

1 dead as Kurds protest rebel's capture
Hundreds of Kurdish protesters battled police in southeast Turkey.

18 February 2008 (Associated Press)
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Hundreds of Kurdish protesters battled police in southeast Turkey on Friday, 
leaving a young demonstrator dead and dozens injured on the ninth 
anniversary of guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan's capture.
The clashes took place in several towns across the Kurdish-dominated 
southeast and police detained scores of demonstrators. The protests are 
called each year on the anniversary of Ocalan's capture to demand the rebel 
leader's release.
Demonstrators hurled rocks at police and smashed windows at shops that had 
opened for business, despite a call to join the protest.
A boy died of head injuries in Cizre, near the Iraqi border, local governor 
Gokhan Azcan said. The state-run Anatolia news agency identified him as 
12-year-old Yahya Menekse.
Authorities did not immediately say how the boy was killed or whether he had 
been among the protesters. But the private Dogan news agency reported the 
boy had been hit in the head by stones hurled by demonstrators during a 
clash with police.
In the city of Hakkari, police fired warning shots in the air to disperse a 
crowd and used tear gas to force some demonstrators to leave a building 
where they were hiding, Dogan reported. At least 15 people were hospitalized 
in the city and police rounded up around 50 protesters, the news agency 
said.
Some children were seen throwing stones at police in Diyarbakir, the 
region's largest city.
Several shops across the region closed after reportedly being threatened by 
Ocalan's rebel group, the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK.
The pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, which faces closure on charges of 
ties to the rebel organization, raised a black flag outside its office in 
Diyarbakir.
Ocalan was captured in Kenya after being forced to leave a Greek diplomatic 
mission there in 1999. He was sentenced to death for leading an insurgency 
in Turkey's southeast that has claimed tens of thousands of lives since 
1984. His sentence was commuted to life in prison, which he is serving as 
the sole inmate on a prison island near Istanbul.
The U.S and EU have branded the PKK a terrorist organization. The group has 
been fighting Turkish troops for Kurdish autonomy in the southeast since 
1984.
U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, wrapping up meetings in Ankara on 
Friday, said his country was "committed to stand side by side with Turkey" 
against the PKK as well as Islamic militants linked to al-Qaida.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/10CD2E89-9437-4E91-99C4-A87329B446D6.htm

Kurds killed in Turkey protests

 Protesters threw stones at security forces
in the town of Yuksekova [Reuters]

Hundreds of Kurdish protesters have thrown stones at police and soldiers in 
southeastern Turkey, in the fourth day of clashes that have killed at least 
two people and injured dozens of others.

Authorities banned gatherings in several cities after celebrations to mark 
the Kurdish New Year, or Newroz, turned violent.

One person died from a bullet wound in the town of Yuksekova, in southern 
Hakkari province, where riot police clashed with hundreds of protesters who 
took to the streets in defiance of the ban on Sunday, hospital sources said.

Witnesses told the AFP news agency that demonstrators shouted slogans in 
favour of the armed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Abdullah Ocalan, its 
jailed leader.

Warning shots

Security forces fired warning shots in the air and used tear gas to disperse 
the crowd.
Television footage showed riot police chasing young men in the streets as 
armoured vehicles sprayed pressurised water.

The demonstrators, mostly members of the Kurdish Democratic Society Party 
(DTP), were angered by the death of a Kurd earlier on Sunday after being 
shot during clashes with police in the city of Van on Saturday, local 
authorities said.

Around 50 people, among them policemen, were wounded and about 130 others 
were detained after the clashes in Van, according to the police.

Police blamed the unrest on members from the DTP who organised gatherings 
despite the decision by local authorities to allow the celebrations only on 
Friday.

DTP officials were among those detained in Van.

In the western city of Izmir, home to a large Kurdish migrant community from 
the southeast, demonstrators attacked the police with chunks of concrete and 
broke the windows of buildings and cars, the Anatolia news agency reported.

At least 20 people including DTP provincial chairman were detained.

Istanbul celebrations

Thousands of Kurds also gathered for Newroz celebrations in Istanbul on 
Sunday, dancing, singing and waving flags of green, yellow and red, the 
traditional Kurdish colours.

Thousands of Kurds gathered in Istanbul
to celebrate Newroz [Reuters]
Some carried portraits of Ocalan and chanted pro-PKK slogans, but no 
incidents of violence were reported.

Freshta Raper, an activist with the Kurdish National Congress, told Al 
Jazeera from London that the 40 million Kurds in Turkey, Iraq, Iran and 
Syria should be allowed to celebrate their cultural identity without 
restriction.

"Every culture, every nation in the world, not matter how minority or 
majority you are, you should the right to celebrate your day," she said.

Newroz is traditionally celebrated on March 21 and is often a flashpoint for 
clashes between Turkish forces and supporters of the PKK, the Kurdish 
independence movement that took up arms against Ankara in 1984.

In 1992, about 50 people were killed by the security forces in clashes 
across the southeast.

This year's Newroz came in the wake of intensified Turkish military action 
against the PKK, including a week-long cross-border offensive last month 
against rebel bases in neighbouring northern Iraq.

http://www.euronews.net/index.php?page=info&article=472918&lng=1

Riot police and Kurds clash at rally

Supporters of a pro-Kurdish party have clashed with police in Istanbul. They 
were demonstrating against Turkey's recent military incursion in northern 
Iraq to rout rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party, the PKK. Riot police 
used tear gas, batons and water to disperse the demonstrators.

Turkey pulled out of Iraq on Friday, just a day after the US president urged 
a swift end to the conflict. Ankara denied any foreign influence on the 
decision. The army says it killed 240 rebels and lost 27 soldiers, figures 
contested by the PKK.

Questions have been raised over the success of the mission as the army 
apparently did not root out all the PKK's bases.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JC29Ak01.html

Mar 29, 2008
Jitters over Syria's Kurdish clashes
By Sami Moubayed

DAMASCUS - Clashes took place last week in the Kurdish district of
Qamishly, northeastern Syria, between Syrian security and Kurds
celebrating their Nawrooz new year. Three Kurds were killed,
enraging both Masoud al-Barazani, the president of Iraqi Kurdistan
(a former ally of Syria) and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.

This might explain why Talabani will not be heading his country's
delegation to the upcoming Arab summit in Damascus this weekend.
Barazani said, "We strongly condemn the killing of the innocent
people in Qamishly. These people were just celebrating the beginning
of their new year and had committed no crime," calling on the
Syrians to launch an investigation into the event.

Security forces had tried to disperse a gathering of 200 people, who
had lit candles and a bonfire, celebrating a holiday that is not
recognized by the government. Syria has been governed by martial law
since 1963, meaning no such gathering can take place without prior
approval. The Kurds knew that, but went ahead with their festival,
almost looking for trouble.

Syrian authorities claimed the police initially tried to disperse
the demonstrators peacefully. When that failed, they resorted to
force. Before that, young demonstrators had burned tires and thrown
stones at riot police, enflaming the situation. A similar
demonstration took place on the same day in the Turkish city of
Diyarbakir, attended by about a million Kurds. They, too, lit
bonfires and Turkish planes hovered nearby, but did not disperse the
demonstrators. In other parts of Turkey, however, the Nawrooz new
year was banned - just as it had been for as long as anybody could
remember - by Turkish authorities, in Hakkari, Urfa and Siirt.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/10/europe/EU-GEN-Spain-Basque-Protest.php

Spanish riot police stop street protest in support of Basque separatist 
parties

The Associated Press
Published: February 10, 2008

BILBAO, Spain: Riot police dispersed an illegal street protest by several 
thousand supporters of Basque separatist parties in the northern city of 
Bilbao on Sunday.
Four people were arrested and one police officer was slightly injured during 
clashes, a police spokesman said on condition of anonymity in keeping with 
force rules.
Fires were lit and streets blocked with burning debris by sympathizers of 
two parties that have been barred from fielding candidates in Spain's 
general elections March 9.
The protest had been called in support of Basque Nationalist Action and the 
Communist Party of the Basque Lands and took place despite a ban on the 
march issued late Saturday by National Court judge Baltasar Garzon.
On Friday, Garzon had barred the parties from political activity for three 
years on the grounds that they were linked to Batasuna, the outlawed 
political wing of the armed Basque separatist group ETA.
Regional police arrived in around 30 vans and told the protesters to 
disperse, according to an Associated Press photographer on the scene. Riot 
officers then charged at the demonstrators, who refused the calls to leave, 
forcing them to flee in all directions.
Spain's Supreme Court cut the parties' public funding and backed Garzon's 
decision by ruling that Basque Nationalist Action could not take part in the 
general election. Garzon's ruling against both parties is legally binding.
ETA has killed more than 800 people since the late 1960s in a campaign of 
shootings and bombings. It seeks an independent Basque homeland in northern 
Spain and southwest France. The group ended a unilateral cease-fire in June 
and has since killed two Spanish police officers and carried out several 
small bombings.
___
Associated Press writer Harold Heckle contributed to this report from 
Madrid.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7239288.stm

Bilbao rally
Last week the same judge suspended two Basque parties, the Basque 
Nationalist Action and the Communist Party of Basque Lands.
Police broke up a demonstration against that decision by thousands of 
supporters of the parties in Bilbao on Sunday.
Several people were arrested during the protest, and one police officer was 
injured.

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/02/390966.html

Protest action against recent banning on Basque political parties EHAK and 
ANV
Basque Information Centre | 09.02.2008 07:52 | Repression | Social Struggles 
| Terror War
The Basque Information Centre calls to protest against the banning by the 
Spanish justice at 8 February on the Basque political parties EHAK and ANV 
through casting a vote on the website www.vredesprocesbaskenland.nl for the 
banned party ANV.

Press statement 9 February 2008

Protest action against recent banning on Basque political parties EHAK and 
ANV

The Basque Information Centre calls to protest against the banning by the 
Spanish justice at 8 February on the Basque political parties EHAK and ANV 
through casting a vote on the website www.vredesprocesbaskenland.nl for the 
banned party ANV.

For more information you can contact us at info at baskinfo. Or visit our 
website on www.baskinfo.org

In favor of the right for self-determination of the Basque Country!
For an independent and socialist Basque Country!
Vote ANV!

Again Spain bans democratic political parties from the Basque Country. Again 
an important part of the Basque voters are excluded from participating in 
elections, now it concerns the Spanish parliamentary elections of 9 March. 
After a previous ban on the political party Batasuna and successors from the 
Basque leftwing independence movement - since 2003 all parties representing 
the choice for a leftwing and independent Basque Country are banned - Spain 
now bans the political parties EHAK and ANV. While Spanish politicians are 
demanding from the Basque independent movement only using democratic means 
to achieve their political objectives, they make it impossible for that same 
movement to participate in elections. The so-called 'Transition' - the 
transition from dictatorship to a parliamentary democracy - is not only 
never completed but is also partly reversed with these latest banning.

The Accion Nacionalista Vasca, the ANV, dates from far before this 
'Transition', even from before the Spanish Civil War and the following 
dictatorship. The ANV is a leftwing party that split off from the rightwing 
Basque nationalist movement. Shoulder to shoulder with a.o. the Spanish 
social democrats they fought before, during and after the Civil War against 
the fascism of the Franco-regime. The small ANV was a loyal defender of the 
Second Republic, in the end defeated by Franco. The party participated in 
the struggle with four battalions and lost 550 members defending the 
Republic. In the last years of the Republic the ANV even took part in the 
Basque government and after the victory of the fascists the ANV was active 
in Basque exile governments together with the social democrats and 
committees for the preparation for the return of democracy in Spain.

The ANV is used to be banned, she has been illegal for 40 years. But she 
could never have expected that her former brothers in arms of the Spanish 
Socialist Party PSOE would - more than 30 years after the death of Franco - 
conspire with the inheritors of the dictator to ban the party again.

The ANV's goal is a leftwing and independent Basque Country. The ANV wants 
to achieve that aim by democratic means - she rejects the use of violence in 
her founding documents - and demands of Spain that the political system had 
to be adjusted to make this possible. In other words, the ANV demands that 
the Basques are allowed to decide their political future themselves. Madrid 
reacts with a ban. Not only on the ANV, but on every organisation that 
pursues these goals. The main argumentation of Madrid is that these 
organisations pursue the same goals as ETA without condemning the means ETA 
uses. With that argumentation not only ETA's'means are banned, but also 
their aims. That's called political prosecution.

The Basque Information Centre calls for protest against the banning and to 
stand up for the democratic right of the Basque people to cast a symbolic 
vote for the ANV on this website.

With kind regards

BIC
Pobox 2884
3500 GW Utrecht
 info at baskinfo.org
www.baskinfo.org
www.vredesprocesbaskenland.nl

http://www.rfa.org/english/news/politics/2008/04/01/uyghur-protest/

Uyghurs Protest in China's Remote Xinjiang Region
2008.04.01

Silk scarves are sold at a silk factory in Khotan, 13 October 2006, in 
China's far west Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in Central Asia. AFP
ISTANBUL, April 1-Several hundred ethnic Uyghurs have staged protests in 
China's remote and restive Xinjiang region following the death in custody of 
a prominent Uyghur businessman and philanthropist.
Witnesses report protests at two locations in Khotan prefecture-in Khotan 
city March 23-24 and Qaraqash county March 23, RFA's Uyghur service reports. 
Several hundred protesters were taken into custody, numerous sources said, 
and security remains tight.
Numerous sources said the demonstrations followed the death in custody of a 
wealthy Uyghur jade trader and philanthropist, Mutallip Hajim, 38. Police 
returned his body to relatives March 3 after two months in custody, saying 
he had died in hospital of heart trouble. According to an authoritative 
source, police instructed the family to bury him immediately and inform no 
one of his death.
The unrest comes two weeks after ethnic Tibetans in neighboring provinces 
staged riots against Chinese rule, prompting a deadly crackdown and 
countless arrests. Both Tibetans and Uyghurs-two of China's major religious 
and ethnic minorities-have chafed under Beijing's rule for the last six 
decades, and Chinese authorities have faced persistent accusations of 
repression and abuse. But while exiled Uyghur leaders have voiced support 
for the Tibetan protesters, the Uyghur unrest appears unrelated.
Protesters' demands
In both areas, the protesters were demanding that authorities scrap a bid to 
ban head scarves, stop using torture to suppress Uyghur demands for greater 
autonomy, and release all political prisoners, sources said.
In Khotan, the crowd of several hundred protesters comprised mainly women. 
Hotel employees said police produced lists of alleged protesters, mainly 
women, and told them to report to police if anyone using tried to register 
as a guest under any of those names, they said.
The protesters, who according to several accounts numbered around 600, began 
their march at the Lop bus station. An unknown number of men joined their 
2-km (one- mile) march to the Big Bazaar shopping area, where they were 
surrounded by police who arrested around 400, the sources said. How long 
they were held was unclear.
The sources, who declined to be identified, reported six casualties, 
although no details were available. Police in Khotan city and its Chinbagh 
district, contacted by telephone, denied any protests had taken place.
Police say protest 'peacefully dispersed'
In Qaraqash, a police officer on duty said protesters there "peacefully 
dispersed."
"There were no injuries or deaths, and we persuaded the people gathered for 
the protest to leave," the officer said. He told a reporter to phone back 
later for an accurate crowd count but hung up when the reporter rang back 
after 15 minutes.
Two additional sources in Khotan said they knew nothing of protests but had 
witnessed extraordinary security measures there, including an order for all 
local residents to remain in their homes.
One local worker told RFA's Mandarin service that police were quick to quash 
what she described as riots in Khotan. "There was an immediate crackdown. 
Now everything is stable," she said. "Protesters were arrested although I 
don't know how many were. Now travel is back to normal."
A local restaurant employee said: "Indeed there were some riots, but now it's 
calm and the restaurant is open. Some rioters were arrested but I don't know 
how many were arrested. The restaurant was closed for a few days while the 
riots were going on."
But an employee at another restaurant had a different account. "The 
restaurant is still closed," the employee said. "There's no chef, and there 
aren't any customers either."
Tense area
Khotan, a rich oasis fed by a several rivers, is located on the southwestern 
edge of the historic Tarim Basin and about 2,000 kms (1,300 miles) from the 
regional capital, Urumqi.
Uyghurs, who number more than 16 million, constitute a distinct, 
Turkic-speaking, Muslim minority in northwestern China and Central Asia. 
They declared a short-lived East Turkestan Republic in what is now Xinjiang 
in the late 1930s and 40s but have remained under Beijing's control since 
1949.
China has waged a campaign over the last decade against what it says are 
violent separatists and Islamic extremists who aim to establish an 
independent state in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, which shares a 
border with Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, 
Russia, and Mongolia.
In March 2008, Chinese authorities announced that they had foiled a plot by 
Uyghur terrorists targeting the Beijing Olympics. In the early 1990s, 
Uyghurs in Xinjiang launched large-scale riots, attacking and killing 
Chinese officials. Chinese authorities alleged that such acts killed 162 
people and injured another 440, prompting a harsh crackdown.
After the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, Beijing took the 
position that Uyghur groups were connected with al-Qaeda and that one group, 
the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), was a "major component of the 
terrorist network headed by Osama bin Laden." The ETIM has denied that 
charge.
U.S.-based Human Rights Watch says authorities in Xinjiang maintain "a 
multi-tiered system of surveillance, control, and suppression of religious 
activity aimed at Xinjiang's Uyghurs...At a more mundane and routine level, 
many Uyghurs experience harassment in their daily lives."
"Celebrating religious holidays, studying religious texts, or showing one's 
religion through personal appearance are strictly forbidden at state 
schools. The Chinese government has instituted controls over who can be a 
cleric, what version of the Koran may be used, where religious gatherings 
may be held, and what may be said on religious occasions."
Original reporting from Istanbul, Washington, and Hong Kong by RFA's Uyghur 
and Mandarin services. Translation by Omer Kanat and Jiayuan. Uyghur service 
director: Dolkun Kamberi. Mandarin service director: Jennifer Chou. Written 
and produced in English by Sarah Jackson-Han.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/02/2206438.htm?section=world

Muslim extremists incite marketplace riot
Posted Wed Apr 2, 2008 9:30pm AEDT
China has accused Muslims in the nation's north-west of trying to start a 
rebellion, following what an exile group said were peaceful protests against 
injustices under Chinese rule.
The unrest occurred in China's Muslim majority Xinjiang region last month, 
after Chinese authorities warned that terrorists based there were planning 
attacks on the Beijing Olympics and had tried to bomb a Beijing-bound plane.
In a statement on its official website, the local government said in the 
latest event, extremist forces tried to incite an uprising in a marketplace 
in the city of Khotan on March 23.
"A small number of elements tried to create disturbances in the marketplace 
and even trick the masses into an uprising," the statement said.
The statement said the people involved adhered to the "three evil forces", a 
Chinese expression that refers to separatism, religious extremism and 
terrorism.
"Our police immediately intervened to prevent this and are dealing with it 
in accordance with the law," it said.
Most of the population in Xinjiang, which borders Afghanistan and central 
Asia, are Muslim Turkic speaking Uighurs, many of whom bridle at what they 
say have been 60 years of repressive communist Chinese rule.
Rights groups and Uighur exiles have alleged that China is trying to stoke 
fears about terror attacks in Xinjiang as an excuse to silence dissent and 
justify tight control there ahead of the Olympics in August.

http://sport.guardian.co.uk/breakingnews/feedstory/0,,-7441142,00.html

Business as usual in Xinjiang town after protests
By Lindsay Beck
KHOTAN, China, April 6 (Reuters) - Vendors bartered livestock and haggled 
over spices at the weekly bazaar in Khotan on Sunday: despite simmering 
tensions in this Xinjiang town after protests by ethnic Uighurs two weeks 
earlier, it was business as usual.
The Sunday bazaar was the site of a demonstration of the sort that China's 
Communist authorities, who fear separatist sentiment in border regions, are 
at pains to avoid -- all the more so since the wave of unrest that has 
rippled through ethnic Tibetan areas.
"After the protest there were police everywhere here," said a 17-year-old 
student, who declined to be named. "But everything is stable again now."
Overseas Uighur groups have reported increased security throughout Xinjiang, 
an oil-rich, Central Asian region bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, 
following the demonstrations in Tibet.
Underscoring the sensitivity of even talking about protests or discontent 
among Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking, Muslim people who make up about half of 
the population of Xinjiang, the student gave few details about what happened 
late last month.
"It was all women. They were protesting because someone's husband was taken 
away," said the student, who, like almost all women in the town, wore a 
headscarf.
That description echoed a report from U.S.-government funded Radio Free 
Asia, which said that the gathering was to protest against the death in 
custody of a prominent Uighur member of the community.
Many others were loathe to even admit witnessing the demonstration and said 
they knew nothing about it.
The city government in Khotan, a dusty, Uighur-majority town skirting the 
edge of the Taklamakan desert, blamed it on what China calls the "Three 
Forces" of ethnic separatism, religious extremism and terrorism.
"THIS IS NOT TIBET"
On the surface, there was little to suggest any tension as traders thronged 
the streets of the market as they have for centuries in the town that was a 
stop on the ancient Silk Road.
Whole sheep, freshly slaughtered, were hauled onto the backs of flatbed 
scooters, donkey carts were piled high with vegetables, and at one stall 
hunks of camel meat hung from hooks, the head of the dismembered animal 
positioned below.
But neither Han nor Uighur has much good to say about the other.
"Right now there is no unity between ethnicities. People don't want to learn 
Chinese. If they see a Uighur speaking Chinese, they curse them," said a 
47-year-old woman named Amangu.
A Han migrant from the inland province of Anhui who makes her living selling 
sunflower seeds in Khotan, known as Hetian in Chinese, says she doesn't have 
much contact with Uighurs, outside of business.
"The educated ones are fine. But the uneducated ones are just not 
civilised," she said.
But as the spring winds swirl dust through the market streets, few fear that 
Khotan's protest will escalate to the level of unrest in Tibet, and there is 
little security presence to suggest otherwise.
"This is not Tibet," said a Chinese construction worker. "Social order here 
is very good." (Editing by John Chalmers)

http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=1143&p=front&a=1

After two days of riots
Al-Dhale' and Lahj residents in state of emergency
By: Yemen Times Staff

Al-DHALE', April, 2 - Al-Dhale' province and Al-Habeeleen city in
Lahj are experiencing a relative calm amid traffic paralysis and an
extensive security deployment after last Sunday's protests turned
violent and led to rioting throughout the week. The incident began
when young men protested after their efforts to enlist in the army
were rejected.

Although the situation in Al-Dhale' has settled down somewhat, Al-
Habeeleen is still witnessing some clashes between protesters and
Yemeni security forces as of Wednesday, said local witnesses in the
southern governorates.

On Tuesday, army deployments stormed the areas after two days of
rioting and demonstrations carried out by hundreds of young men in
the southern governorates. The men were protesting "over unfulfilled
government promises to enlist them in the army."

Eyewitnesses said that security forces supported by tanks moved into
Al-Dhale' and Radfan on Monday evening. Additionally, the security
forces in the two governorates arrested at least five people on
Tuesday, and are still hunting down 18 other wanted demonstration
organizers. Locals said that demonstrators attacked governmental
facilities, blocked roads and burned car tires, which covered the
area with clouds of black smoke for hours. "So far, we have been
informed that there is at least one dead and five injured in the
clashes that took place in Lahj on Wednesday," said Mohammed Husain,
a resident of Lahj. He confirmed that the local councils announced a
state of emergency and prevented people from gathering in the
streets.

"There is heavy security deployment in the two cities that
discouraged many people from taking to the streets," said Yemen
Times correspondent Fuad Mussaid, a resident of Al-Dhale'. "The
stores are closed, students do not go to school and people rarely
get out their houses."

"Some people feel secured due to the existence of the army forces
who say that will provide them with protection. However other
citizens revealed their frustration as the security forces arrested
citizens randomly who were not involved in the riots but found
walking in the streets," added Mussaid

The presence of army forces prevent citizens from protesting against
the arrest of a number of political and social figures who were
involved in organizing the marches, according to security sources
who wished to remain anonymous.

According to national media, 13 people were injured last Tuesday in
confrontations between security forces and demonstrators in the two
cities. The security forces also fired on the demonstrators and
released tear gas into the crowd, causing serious injuries to a
number of citizens.
Demonstrators attacked governmental facilities, blocked roads and
burned car tires.

The injured were later taken to Al-Habeeleen Hospital for treatment.

Eyewitnesses also revealed that demonstrators broke into a number of
public facilities and privately-owned stores. Protestors picked up a
donkey and carried it aloft while chanting "no donkeys after today,"
referring to the symbol of the ruling General People's Congress
party, the horse.

Electricity was cut in various Al-Habeeleen neighborhoods after an
electric generator was shot. The local university's Faculty of
Education in Lahj was also subjected to gunfire and tear gas
bombardment in its yard.

The Joint Meting Parties (JMP) in Al-Dhale' issued a press release
concerning the events in the governorate. The statement they issued
placed responsibility on the government for the youths' outrage that
resulted in the ensuing chaos. While the GMP in Al-Dhale' considered
the events to be a result of the government's irresponsible dealings
those men applying for army recruitment.

The press release claimed that the government deals with army
enlistees in an opaque way that arouses anger, which is what
happened with the army applicants in Al-Dhale'.

Tariq Al-Shami, head of the GPC's media circle accused the JMP of
instigating the riots and spreading hatred inside the society. Al-
Shami pointed out that recruitment in the army varies according to
population and under service law conditions. He also noted that JMP
intends to agitate people and warned against the consequences of
such behavior.

An official source from Al-Dhale' local authority accused some
parties affiliated with the JMP of instigating sabotage, riots and
the looting of private and public property that took place last
Sunday. The local authority pointed out that the parties don't
consider their national responsibility when they aim to create
disturbances that eventually incite violence.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=90690

Two dead as protests continue in southern Yemen
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Monday, April 07, 2008

Two Yemenis were killed and eight others wounded Sunday in continued
clashes between security forces and protesters in the country's
south, local residents said. The casualties occurred when troops
fired into a crowd of demonstrators in the southern town of Kode in
Abyan Province, said the residents, speaking on condition of
anonymity for fear of government reprisal.

Local security officials confirmed the two deaths Sunday, raising to
three the total number of people who have been killed in recent days
in clashes between authorities and thousands of former southern
Yemen army officers, political activists and unemployed men who
accuse the Yemeni government in the north of unequal treatment.

The security officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they
were not authorized to talk to the media.

Protesters in Abyan said in a statement they would continue their
demonstrations until the government released everyone it had
detained since the protests began on March 30.

They also called on the government to withdraw army and police
forces that it had deployed with tanks and armored vehicles in
several southern towns.

But local residents said the government sent more troops and tanks
to the town of Zinjibar in Abyan on Sunday and also to Al-Mukalla in
Hadramawt Province. They also spoke on condition of anonymity for
fear of reprisal.

The clashes underline tensions between northern and southern Yemen
14 years after a civil war. Northerners dominate the government and
economy in this impoverished country, and many protesters are former
members of the defeated southern army.

After the civil war, many southern soldiers fled to the mountainous
hinterlands and Saudi Arabia, returning only when Yemen's government
issued an amnesty and promised to readmit them to the army a promise
southerners say has not been kept.

Abu Bakr Batheeb, assistant secretary general of the opposition
Yemen Socialist Party, said in Sanaa on Sunday that the recent
clashes were "the natural reaction from the long years of suffering,
neglect and abandonment of the south."

The first death occurred Wednesday when troops opened fire on 5,000
demonstrators in the southern town of Al-Hablain in Lahaj Province.

The southern town of Dhalae has also witnessed protests in recent
days, but Deputy Governor Hassoun Saleh Qassim said Sunday that town
was quiet and authorities had charged 42 people, some of them former
army officers, with rioting, sabotage, theft and destabilizing the
country.

Last week, rioters set fire to at least two police stations and
burned military vehicles in Dhalae. Opposition parties in Hadramawt
Province have called for big demonstrations Sunday evening in a
continued push for southern demands.

Meanwhile, clashes broke out Sunday between pro-government tribes
and Shiite rebels in northern Yemen, killing some 18 people.

About 18 people were killed in fighting between Shiite rebels and a
pro-government tribe in Yemen from the same sect, tribal sources and
residents said on Sunday.Thirteen people were wounded in the
fighting between the Al-Bukhtan tribe and the rebels, they said.

The fighting, which broke-out on Saturday in a market in the
mountainous Saada Province, came two months after Zaidi rebels
killed an Al-Bukhtan member who they accused of supporting the
government. Government forces have since joined the battle by
shelling Zaidi rebel positions.

The on-off insurgency led by the Zaidi rebels against the Yemeni
government has claimed thousands of lives since 2004. The rebels
reject the regime of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh as
illegitimate, although Saleh is a Zaidi.

Offshoots of Shiite Islam, the Zaidis are a minority in mainly Sunni
Yemen but form the majority in the northwest.

The government is also headed by Shiites, but the rebels accused the
administration of corruption and being too close to the West. -
Agencies

http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=1144&p=local&a=1

Soldier dies amidst call to arms against government in southern
Yemen
Saddam Al-Ashmori For Yemen Times

SANA'A, April 6 - The situation in the southern governorates is
still shaky after a one-week intensive security deployment backed
with tanks attempted to control rioting that erupted when a protest
turned violent. Around the same time, a soldier died during an
attack in Hadramout following a Parliament member's call for armed
struggle in the south. A soldier was killed and another seven were
injured when unknown armed men attacked two separate military
checkpoints in Hadramout province in southeast Yemen on Saturday.

The governor of Hadramout told the Yemen Times that the armed men
shelled two checkpoints in Al-Qatn and Hawrah districts. He said
security authorities are currently looking for the aggressors in
order to bring them to trial, adding that preliminary investigations
were unable to disclose the motive behind the attacks.

Yemeni Socialist leader calls southerners to arms against the
government

The attacks came after Salah Al-Shanfarah, a Parliament member and
prominent leader in the Yemeni Socialist Party, threatened to resort
to armed struggle and revolution against the state authorities. In a
statement last Friday in Al-Dhale', Al-Shanfarah said, "We shall
announce revolution and armed struggle in the mountains of Al-
Dhale', Yafei, and Radfan."

"They [state's leaders] should know that our areas are not like
those of Sa'ada and our men are not like Al-Houthi's, whom we highly
respect. We have military plans that are accurate and scientific
that can destroy their [state's leaders] army," he added.

He further noted that if the blockade continues and security forces
conduct attacks on citizens' homes arbitrarily, then locals of Al-
Dhale' province will carry out operations that target high-ranking
figures in the state.

"Al-Dhale' city is about to see a large humanitarian crisis if
southerners do not move now," said Al-Shanfarah. "You southerners go
to your positions in Radfan, Al-Dhale', Yafei, Al-Mahfad, Mukairas,
Baihan and all the cities bordering northern Yemen that occupied our
land and country," he said.

Al-Dhale' reels after last week's violent protests.

After last week's violent protests in Al-Dhale' and Lahj, security
authorities arrested several people who organized the protests,
which were held when local youths were refused entry into the army.
One protestor was killed and more than 18 were injured.

A well-informed source in Al-Dhale' said though main cities were
open and the tanks drew back, there is still one district in the
governorate blockaded by security authorities. A source in the
Ministry of Defense denied the presence of tanks in those areas and
also denied that there was a state of emergency in the governorate.

Meanwhile, hundreds of citizens in Radfan city in Lahj governorate
are protesting for the second week against the arrests carried out
by security authorities.

Eyewitnesses said security and army forces in Radfan raided the more
recent protests, also organized by youths. The forces used tear gas
and live bullets to disperse the protesters, which caused several
protestors to faint from the fumes. No one was hit by the bullets
fired into the crowd.

At Aden University, security and army troops surrounded the Faculty
of Education in preparation for any possible reactions on the part
of students or university staff after one student from the
university was arrested last week.

Authorities in the governorate said 30 people were referred to the
prosecution after they were proven to be involved in the riots.
Lahsoun Saleh, deputy governor of Al-Dhale', said initial
investigations on those people proved that they were involved in the
riots and other 32 were released on bail.

Almotamar.net quoted the deputy governor online, who said that among
the 62 soldiers arrested, 12 were referred to the military court
system.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6B94B423-C437-41EE-B1D5-DA61ED73073F.htm

Yemen police break up protest

Dozens of people were arrested in protests in southern Yemen on Tuesday 
[AFP]
At least five people have been injured after police dispersed a protest in 
the southern Yemeni city of Radfan, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Yemen 
says.

According to the AFP news agency, one protester was killed in the fourth day 
of demonstrations over alleged discrimination towards the local population.
Police also used tear gas on Wednesday to separate a group of protesters who 
gathered outside the local government headquarters in the province of Lahj.

The protesters say a number of men from the area were not admitted into the 
army after responding to a recruitment campaign.

On Tuesday, dozens of people were rounded up by security forces, including 
three politicians from the Yemeni Socialist Party, in a crackdown on 
activists suspected of inciting protests in the provinces of Aden, Lahj and 
Dhaleh, witnesses said.

'Government terror'

In a statement, the former ruling party in south Yemen confirmed the arrest 
of some party members and accused the government of seeking to "terrorise 
leaders of the peaceful protest movement".

However, the government alleges that "subversive elements" had engaged in 
"acts of sabotage and rioting" in southern provinces, "attacking innocent 
citizens and damaging public property".

Several protests have been held in southern Yemen in recent months to demand 
greater state aid for more than 60,000 people retired from the military and 
civil service, most of whom insist they were forced into early retirement.

Local residents often complain of discrimination since a 1994 southern 
secession bid, led by socialists, was crushed by northern forces loyal to 
Ali Abdullah Saleh, the president.

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=31858

Second Day of Protest in Baitul Mukarram Area
Violent clashes with cops leave 200 hurt
Shotgun looted by activists found in mosque compound
Staff Correspondent


Hundreds of Islamist activists clashed with police for hours on the
second day of violent protests in the city's Baitul Mukarram
National Mosque area yesterday, leaving over 200 people injured.

Police used batons and fired rubber bullets and tear gas shells to
break up demonstrations against the recently announced national
women development policy in defiance of the state of emergency.

At least 52 policemen and five journalists were among the injured.

Some 17 people were arrested in connection with the clashes. Deputy
Commissioner (DC) Mazharul Islam of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP)
Motijheel zone last night said they filed a case accusing over 100
people of assault on police and looting firearms.

An intelligence official requesting not to be named told The Daily
Star that they have already identified those inciting violence. "We
have suggested that the government take a tough line against them,"
he added.

Eyewitnesses said violence broke out at around 1:35pm, minutes after
Jum'a prayers when police barred a procession coming from the north
gate of the mosque. Incensed, the other members of the radical
Islamist outfits who were preparing to join the march began throwing
projectiles at the law enforcers.

As chase and counter-chase continued for hours, hundreds of those
who went to the mosque for Friday prayers became trapped inside.

At around 3:00pm, some demonstrators caught a policeman cut off from
his colleagues and beat him up. They snatched his shotgun and broke
it up into pieces, said the media cell of DMP.

Earlier, some 50 people were wounded in Thursday's fight between the
Islamist groups and law enforcers.

Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed announced the National Women
Development Policy-2008 on March 8, causing a firestorm of protests
among Islamist organisations.

Since then, some radical groups have been claiming that the policy
gives equal inheritance rights to men and women, while the
government maintained there is no such provision.

In efforts to scotch the discontent, four advisers of the caretaker
government on March 27 met Islamic leaders and formed a review
committee headed by the acting Khatib of Baitul Mukarram Mosque.

A report by the committee is due by April 16. But some Islamic
groups including Ahkam-e-Shariah Hifajat led by Jamaat leader Delwar
Hossain Sayedee, Anti-Quran Law Resistance Committee of Allama
Azizul Huq Shaikhul Hadith, Islamic Law Implementation Committee led
by Islami Oikya Jote's Fazlul Huq Amini and Chhatra Jamiat Andolon
of Maulana Muhiuddin Ahmed opted not to wait and launched violent
street agitation Thursday.

A huge number of students from madrasas across the city took part in
the pitched battles with police yesterday. They acted on
instructions from their teachers who were staying inside the mosque,
said the eyewitnesses.

After around four hours of fighting, areas like Purana Paltan,
Dainik Bangla intersection, Bangabandhu Avenue, Gulistan and
national stadium were littered with brickbats as smog from tear gas
hung heavily over them.

The agitators launched attacks on the police from every corner of
Baitul Mukarram and took shelter inside whenever police went on a
counter-offensive. They took bricks off under-construction
structures on the mosque premises and split those into pieces to
hurl at police.

Around 1,500 law enforcers in riot gear struggled all along to
control the crowds.

At one stage, rumours spread that three of the protesters were
killed, adding fuel to the agitation.

To escape tear gas, both the law enforces and agitators burned
carpets of the mosque, woods, furniture of several street side
stalls and papers making the air heavier and adding to the
sufferings.

The marchers chanted slogans demanding resignation of Women and
Children Affairs Adviser Rasheda K Chowdhury and the interim
government.

The injured policemen were admitted to Rajarbagh Police Lines
Hospital while journalists, pedestrians and protesters received
treatment at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) and various
private medical facilities.

DMCH sources said 22 madrasa students were admitted there.

Monirul Islam and Hasan Raja of Prothom Alo, Abu Taher Khokon of New
Age, and Belal Hossain of Ekushey TV--all photographers--were badly
injured.

Of the policemen wounded, condition of inspector Selimuzzaman,
Sergeant Israfil, Sub-Inspector Kamrul, and constables Belayet,
Enamul, Emdad, Kamrul, Monir, Kabir, Shafique, and Sarwar was stated
critical, according to the DMP media cell.

An official of the cell told The Daily Star last night that during
the clashes, police shot 312 tear gas shells and 243 rounds of
rubber bullets.

DMP (Motijheel) DC Mazharul Islam said, "They attacked first,
forcing us to retaliate with baton-charge and tear gas."

He said at least 35 platoons were engaged to disperse the agitators
till 3:30pm.

Meanwhile, Islami Oikya Jote Chairman Fazlul Haque Amini at a press
conference at Purana Paltan in the afternoon alleged that police
attacked them without provocation.

He claimed that more than 100 of their workers were injured in the
clashes.

"We called a rally to drum up support for the anti-Quran rules," he
added.

Amini also said, "If our demands are not met, the fire ignited today
[yesterday] will spread like wildfire across the country."

Asked about mosaic stones taken off the mosque's wall, he said he
was not aware of it.

....................................................................

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=31873

Madrasa students go on rampage, storm Hathazari police station
Our Correspondent, Ctg

Hundreds of madrasa students went on the rampage and stormed
Hathazari Police Station in Chittagong yesterday over rumours that
an imam was killed earlier in the day in clashes between police and
religious militants in Dhaka.

Clashes that followed left more than 10 people, including five
police, injured.

Police said students of Darul Ulum Moin Ul Islam, a local religious
institution, brought out a procession at about 6:30pm protesting
police action on the activists of Anti-Quranic Law Resistance
Committee in Dhaka.

The procession became unruly while passing by the Hathazari Police
Station as rumours spread that an imam was killed in clashes between
police and religious militants in Dhaka earlier in the day.

They began raining stones on the police station.

The madrasa students later forced into the police station, ransacked
all its rooms, set the doors and windows on fire, disabled
telecommunications facilities and damaged four vehicles parked
inside, witnesses said.

They also attacked the adjoining police barracks and torched a
motorcycle there.

A police officer said the militants entered the police station all
on a sudden, giving them no room to put up any resistance.

Reinforced police later baton-charged the unruly students and lobbed
tear-gas canisters in a bid to disperse them.

Five cops and the imam of police station mosque were injured in the
clashes. They are Sub-Inspector Mizanur Rahman, constables Abdul
Haq, Bahar Uddin, Mostafa and Hamid and mosque imam Abdul Kalam.

The injured were admitted to local hospital.

The madrasa students later put up barricades on Hathazari road.
According to the latest news, the militants took position on the
madrasa rooftops.

Deputy Inspector General of Police of Chittagong Range Shahidul Haq
and other high officials rushed to the spot.

....................................................................

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=31724

Bigots fight fiercely with cops to protest women policy
50 including 10 policemen injured
Staff Correspondent

The surrounding areas of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque turned into
a battlefield yesterday when members of an Islamic organisation
clashed with police leaving over 50 injured including 10 policemen
and 15 pedestrians.

Witnesses said the hour-long clash started around 2:15pm when police
resisted about 500 activists of Anti-Quran Law Resistance Committee
attempting to march towards the office of the chief adviser in a
procession after holding a rally on the mosque premises.

Khelafat Majlish and Islami Shashontantra Andolan recently formed
the Anti-Quran Law Resistance Committee to protest against the
National Women Development Policy approved by the advisers' council
recently.

"As police halted their progress, the agitating activists started
pelting them with brickbats and broke through the police ring," said
pedestrian Mostofa Kamal who took shelter near the mosque during the
clash.

Fifteen pedestrians including two children Shaon, 12, and Badhon, 9,
were injured.

Employees of nearby shop Mithu Carpets said, "When police locked the
gate at the north side, the activists came through other gates and
attacked police with bamboo sticks and brickbats."

At one stage, police resorted to charging truncheons and firing
teargas canisters to disperse them. Police used around 10 teargas
shells.

During the clash, the activists set fire to two motorbikes of law
enforcers and damaged over 10 vehicles including two sports utility
vehicles of the Islamic Foundation and the Ministry of Religious
Affairs.

Chases and counter chases took place between the police and the
activists.

Other witnesses said all business establishments were closed for
three hours due to repeated attacks of the activists.

The injured activists and pedestrians received treatment from Dhaka
Medical College Hospital, Suhrawardy Hospital and different clinics
in the area while the policemen were treated at Rajarbagh Police
Hospital.

Farid Uddin Ahmed, officer-in-charge (OC) of Paltan Police Station,
told The Daily Star, "The unruly attackers injured several
policemen, including Assistant Commissioner [AC] Pankaj Roy."

He said they would take legal action against those who were involved
in the offence.

Two units of Fire Service and Civil Defence rushing to the spot to
douse the burning motorbikes could not do their jobs as the Anti-
Quran Law Resistance Committee activists attacked them and chased
them away.

People who went to the mosque for Zohr prayers were stuck inside the
mosque.

Vehicular movement in the area came to a halt during the clash and
created gridlocks on nearby streets which had a knock-on effect on
traffic situation on other parts of the city.

Before the clash, the Anti-Quran Law Resistance Committee held a
rally on the mosque ground where they demanded resignation of
Rasheda K Chowdhury, adviser to the caretaker government.

Terming the National Women Development Policy an anti-Islamic law,
they threatened the government of toppling it if it did not amend
the policy.

After the clash, the organisation held a press conference at the
office of Khelafat Majlish. They claimed police prevented them from
carrying out their peaceful activities and injured over 100
activists.

Maulana Abdur Rob Yusufi, Nayeb-e-Amir of Khelafat Majlish, spoke at
the press conference among others.