Six killed as fresh protests sweep Yemen regime

Four civilians were shot dead and ten others wounded by security forces during a huge demonstration in southern Yemen’s port city of Aden yesterday. Two soldiers were also killed.

Crowds had gathered calling for the separation of the south from the rest of the country, and demanding that the country’s outgoing president be put on trial.

Witnesses said some armed men in the demonstration returned fire.

Protesters held rallies in cities across the country calling for regime change and rejecting a recent law granting president Ali Abdullah Saleh and his government officials immunity from prosecution for all crimes committed during his 33-year rule.

Last Sunday, Yemen’s cabinet proposed an immunity law to speed Mr Saleh’s exit under a Gulf-brokered plan to end months of protests that have paralysed the impoverished Arab state. Presidential elections are set for 21 February.

Security across Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country, has collapsed during the 11-month uprising, and Yemen’s active al-Qaeda branch has seized territory in the country’s south.