SANA?A* JULY* 29 ? As many as 22 people have been killed in violence connected with the conflict between the Southern Movement and the government during the past week* but according to the movement* it will not approve a ?truce.?Tareq Al-Fadhli* a leader in the movement received unofficial request from parliament members asking him to suspend any form of protest activities against the government* according to Nasser Muassen Al-Fadhli of the Southern Movement.In return* the government would provide medical care to the injured and compensation to the families of the dead* said Nasser Al-Fadhli. ?The southern movement is not going to declare a ?truce? with the government* he added.?We are not going to suspend our peaceful activities.? On Tuesday* four police officers were killed when 10 gunmen attacked them in Al-Ein area around 2 a.m. on the road from Abyan to Hadramout* according to the security director of the Luder district* Mohammad Al-Mabraqi.The four officers were sleeping when they were attacked* and a fifth* who was injured* was awake on guard. The security official said it was unclear who was behind the attack.Last weekend* almost 18 people were killed and more than 25 were injured in Abyan during a clash between security and protesters who gathered to demand that the government release detainees taken during previous anti-government protests. According to Nasser Al-Fadhli* Tareq Al-Fadhli received an oral message from MP Mohammed Al-Shadadi* asking the leader to turn himself in* or to leave the country. Tareq Al-Fadhli refused to obey the demand* saying he will continue ?his peaceful struggle.?Nasser Al-Khubji* another Southern Movement leader* said that the movement is planning to continue its activities by launching rallies and setting semi-permanent demonstration sites to show solidarity with the families of those who fell during the latest clashes with the government.?We aim to disengage with Sana?a government peacefully*? Al-Khubji said* referring to the formerly independent territory of South Yemen. The Southern Movement first appeared two years ago* when retired members of the military force from the south demanded higher pensions* complained of discrimination* accused the government of corruption* and taking over citizens? lands. Their claims gradually extended to a demand for secession from the north* and to a restoration of the southern state.The government refuses to conduct dialogue with the movement* saying that it is merely upset because unification has harmed its interests. The government has not recognized the movement* and calls the members ?subversive elements?. Many southern governorates including Lahj* Al-Dhal?e* Abyan* Aden* Shabwa* and Hadramout* have been engulfed by violent anti-government protests.Over the past two months* at least 35 people have been killed* including the 18 last weekend* during Southern Movement demonstration against the government. Protesters waved flags of the former South Yemen* held up posters of its former leaders* threw stones* and shouted slogans calling for secession from the north. The government forces reacted with tear gas and by opening fire on the demonstrators* said witnesses. The government accused Tareq Al-Fadhli?s supporters of committing hate crimes* including murdering and robbing Yemenis from northern areas that are settled in the south. The Southern Movement denied the government claims* saying that ?It is against any violent actions towards citizens.?The growing strife has led parliament to question the government last Monday* holding it responsible for the growing deterioration of the security situation in the country. Rashad al Alimi* deputy prime minister for security and defense affairs* said that the government is facing serious security challenges. Salem Haidarah* an MP from Abyan* and member of the ruling party* criticized the government harshly.?Had we been in another country* the government would have resigned instead of coming to parliament with false information*? he said. ?The situation in Abyan is that serious.?Some opposition MPs supported Haidarah in the notion that government should resign.Aidarous Al-Nakeeb* head of the opposition socialist party in parliament* said security solutions will not solve the southern problems.?Security solutions might repress angry protesters and kill some of them*? he said* ?But they will not sort out the problem. It is a political problem and a consequence of the 1994 war* which resulted in looting the land and the marginalization of the south.? ?Yemen is now at a crossroads and needs national reconciliation and dialogue involving all relevant people and the partners of the unity*? he added.?But* stubborn positions from the government will lead to a similar stand from the other side which will serve the people calling for separation. Both projects are fruitless. We have to look for a new way to build a state of law and order and respect of equal partnership and citizenship.?...

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