Global General

Yemeni deputy PM survives ambush

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-05-16 08:23

SANAA - Yemeni Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Security Rashad al-Alami survived an ambush by gunmen of separatist movement in the southern restive province of Lahj on Saturday, security officials said.

"Two security escorts were killed and another four were seriously wounded when they returned fire against the armed attackers," an official of the Interior Ministry told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

According to the official, the accident took place Saturday afternoon in al-Habilain town in the province of Lahj, as the official convoy was traveling from the southern port city Aden to Sanaa.

"The Deputy Prime Minister al-Alami survived unharmed and his convoy managed to continue its way to Sanaa," said the official, adding "the four injured soldiers were rushed to a hospital in Sanaa."

Yemen, one of the poorest Arab countries in the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, is facing a growing anti-unity separatist movement in the south.

Northern and southern Yemen were unified in 1990 according to a deal between the People's General Congress and the Yemeni Socialist Party. However, the deal fell apart, leading to a crisis between the two allies, which developed into a civil war in 1994.

Recently, voices rise in south Yemen where secessionist sentiments are simmering, calling for disengagement from the north and the restoration of the southern state.