Yemen's southerners call for restoration of normal life after signing of power transfer deal

by: Murad Al-Awasi, Wang Qiuyun

ADEN, Yemen, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- As Yemen's outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh finally signed a power transfer deal brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) last week in Riyadh, civilians in southern part of the country eagerly call for restoring social order and living condition in their cities.

The landmark signing came as the security and economic situation in southern Yemen, including the country's most civilized city of Aden continues to deteriorate as a result of unrest triggered by the anti-government protests which have swept throughout the country since late January. Many people still complain of the scarcity of fuel, gas, electricity, and a sharp increase in the prices of basic commodities.

Ahmed Khaldoon, a taxi driver in Khor Maksar district in Aden said that "In the beginning of the unrest, we expected that such protests would largely contribute to improving our livelihood, however, we were shocked to find it worsen our living condition because of the instability."

"After the crisis started earlier this year, the government's price control completely disappeared in the markets. The rising cost of vegetables and fruits is unbearable," Hanan Walid, a housewife and a mother of five in Crater district said.

"People in Aden are no longer capable of supporting their families due to the escalating economic crisis. Most of them work in local companies, which are still closed and many people are unemployed now. Actually, the situation in Aden has worsened considerably over the past few months," Hanan said.

"We hope that signing the GCC deal and forming power-sharing government would bring joy and happiness to the hearts of people, who are suffering from difficulties and harsh living conditions," she added.

Meanwhile, many local citizens are concerned that al-Qaida militants who captured at least three towns in the neighboring southern province of Abyan late in May, may exploit this deterioration and insecurity to take control over the strategic port city and destabilize the country.

"We began to notice strange young people wandering across the streets with guns. This weird phenomenon has been frightening residents," Mohammed Abdul Rahman, a local resident in the al- Mansoura district said.

"There is presence of masked gunmen, who looted government stores and attacked police stations or military officials not only in Aden, but also in other southern cities. We call on the upcoming government to work hard on stabilizing the situation and to protect the province. We want it to be restored to what it was before," Rahman said.

The residents pointed out that after signing the GCC power transfer deal, the government forces and opposition fighters have to put an end to the violence and reconstruct the country as soon as possible.

"The Gulf initiative may soon run into trouble if confrontations and violence between the political rivals still exist," said Maria Abdullah al-Taweel, an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Aden University.

However, some southern separatists who seek to overturn a unification deal between North and South Yemen in 1990 and secede the south from the north exhibit negative attitude towards the signing of GCC deal.

After signing the power-transfer deal, disputes over the political fate of southern Yemen after Saleh's resignation took place in nearly all southern provinces, including Aden, where thousands of pro-secessionism activists marched on Wednesday as they commemorated the 44th anniversary of the south's independence from Britain's colonization.

"The deal offered by the neighboring countries unfortunately ignored the crisis in the south and does not include a satisfactory solution to our demands," Ahmed Radhwan, a prominent youth activist of the movement in the port city of Aden told Xinhua.

"Forming a national government between the ruling party and the opposition won't halt the aggravated violence in the south," he said.

Rashid al-Ahdel, a student at Aden University, said that many of Aden's young people were disappointed. "Signing this deal is just like a distribution of indulgences cards to the corrupt government officials, who will still be partners in the power- sharing government with the opposition," al-Ahdel said.

"There is no talking about the rampant corruption, looted rights and land grabs, especially in the south, where people have seen the persistent suppression and marginalization by northern prominent tribesmen backed by Sanaa government since 1990," he complained.