Two people were killed and 13 wounded when Yemeni police traded gunfire with southern separatists, and as nationwide protests rejected a plan granting the president immunity from prosecution, activists and police said. “Shakib Suleiman Hasan and an elderly man were killed and 10 other protesters wounded when police opened fire on a demonstration” in Khor Maksar district in the main southern city of Aden, said Mohammed al-Abadi, an activist from the separatist Southern Movement.
A police official said three policemen, including a man identified as Major Walid Saleh Ali, were wounded. Witnesses said police fired tear gas and live rounds at thousands who demonstrated to reject a Gulf-brokered plan that grants President Ali Abdullah Saleh immunity from prosecution when he steps down. Gunmen among the protesters returned fire, the same sources said. The Southern Movement protesters also called for separation on the anniversary of internal clashes on January 13, 1986 between factions of the Yemeni Socialist Party that ruled the south of Yemen — an independent state at the time.
“The Southern Movement is boycotting the upcoming presidential elections across all southern provinces,” read their banners. “The Gulf Initiative does not concern us.” Based on a Gulf plan, Saleh will remain an honorary president until February 21 when Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi will officially replace him.