1 dead in south Yemen clashes

A Yemeni was shot dead and four others wounded on Saturday during clashes between the security forces and armed separatists in the southern city of Aden, a hospital official said. The body of a man, identified as Radwan al-Habashi, was taken to Nakib hospital where an official told AFP he had died of gunshot wounds suffered near a security checkpoint. Four other people were admitted to the hospital after an exchange of fire in several neighbourhoods of Aden, which has been relatively calm since violence killed nine people between February 21 and 26, the official said. Security forces had been deployed in the port city to clear away boulders and tyres that supporters of former vice president Ali Salem al-Baid had placed on streets, residents said. But they were confronted by armed separatists who have called for a campaign of civil disobedience in Aden, which was virtually paralysed by Saturday's violence. Unrest intensified across southern Yemen last month when protesters marking the first anniversary of the ouster of former strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh clashed with police in Aden. South Yemen broke away in 1994, sparking a civil war, before it was overrun by northern troops. Hardliners in the south have refused to take part in a national dialogue set to take place on March 18, insisting on a secession of the regions of the formerly independent south. The dialogue is aimed at drafting a new constitution and electoral law for parliamentary and presidential polls in 2014.