“Unity or death” (al-wahdah aw al-mawt) – that is
the slogan written next to the picture of Yemen’s
President Ali Abdullah Saleh on a big poster
on ‘Street Seventy’ in Sana’a. The government
leaves nobody in doubt that defending the unity
of Yemen is top priority. At the same time,
there are regular reports about clashes between
Southern Yemenis and government forces in
the governorates of Lahij, Shabwah, Ad Dali’
and Abyan giving the impression that there
is a growing security problem deriving from
the Southern Movement with the potential to
challenge the authority and legitimacy of the
government in Sana’a and the unity of Yemen.
But how strong is the Southern Movement in
Yemen, what are its objectives and what are the
initiatives to solve the problems in the south?
A paper of the Gulf Research Center and the Sheba Center for Strategic Studies
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