Yemen: 2 southern activists sentenced to jail amid secession struggle

Yemen: 2 southern activists sentenced to jail

SAN’A, Yemen — Yemeni security courts on Tuesday sentenced two opposition leaders to prison for allegedly working against national unity and calling for secession of the country’s south.

Yemen has been struggling with a secessionist movement in its south, where an increasingly vocal separatists have clashed with the central government.

Ahmed Bamualem, a leader in the southern movement and former member of parliament who was detained in April, was sentenced to 10 years in jail. He claimed the trial was illegal and told the court he would continue his peaceful struggle.

Retired army Brig. Gen. Ali Mohammed al-Saadi, also active in the movement, received a 15-month sentence.

Southerners complain of neglect and discrimination by the north. The two halves of the country were separate nations until they united in 1990.

The unrest in southern Yemen is separate from a conflict in the country’s north between government troops and Shiite rebels. Yemen’s weak central government is also struggling to confront a threat from al-Qaida militants that have set up operations there.