Violence erupts on anniversary of Yemeni revolution

Southern opposition accused of shooting at crowds Clashes erupted as tens of thousands celebrated the second anniversary of the former Yemeni President Ali Saleh's fall from power. The violence began between supporters of the separatist opposition and the youth of the Brotherhood-affiliated Islamist Reform Party in Aden. Local sources told Arabstoday that a demonstrator had been shot dead by security forces on Monday, as the police intervened to disperse the crowds. Dozens of protesters were also injured.
The sources clarified that the clashes broke out as the conflicting parties raced to occupy the public spaces and squares to celebrate February 11. Security forces intervened with armoured vehicles to disperse the demonstrators. A source in the southern opposition accused "militias from the Reform Party" of shooting at the crowds, inciting panic and violence.
Meanwhile thousands of Yemenis rallied in Sanaa to celebrate the second anniversary of the Yemeni public revolution, and step-up demands on authorities to fulfil the post-revolution objectives and prosecute those involved in the violence committed against demonstrators during the 2011 protests.
President Mansour Hady addressed the young of his country in a speech published in a Yemeni newspaper. Hady stressed that constitutional and revolutionary legitimacy should be achieved through the Gulf Initiative, to avoid a bloody and destructive conflict.
He described the Gulf Initiative and its executive mechanisms as "the suitable solution" for the current crisis, adding that the initiative had drawn a road map towards achieving change and ending the bloody clashes that could divide the country.