.- The riots in southern Yemen, inspired by the popular uprisings that toppled leaders in Tunisia and Egypt, are taking a different tone, to foster hope that we could regain lost independence two decades ago. In the halls of (consumption) qat, where people gather daily to chewing the stimulant leaf speaks of the deterioration of the South and the prospects of a more northern tribal separation.
"He (President Ali Abdullah) Saleh, like the other Arab tyrants will fall. It will be a crucial step towards the recovery of southern independence," said financial adviser Yassin Makkawi, while chewing qat and taking a sweet drink . The nationwide protests against Saleh's 32 years in power have intensified in the last two weeks, and most of the 24 deaths about which we know occurred in the south.
Although the separatist sentiment is skin deep, the protesters in the former capital, Aden has acceded to the slogans used by the northerners to Saleh leaves office. The southerners say their incomes have fallen, society has become more conservative in religious terms, corruption is widespread, and his hometown of Aden missed the mark left that earned him the nickname "The Cuba of the Middle East." Four years after closing a weak agreement of unity with the north in 1990, civil war broke out that the South lost.
"Even the water used to taste better before. The drive was a disastrous experience in every sense of the word. We never imagined that a united Yemen would mean discrimination and domination of our land and our resources," said Makkawi. The bloody uprising in Libya, and the referendum on independence in southern Sudan in January, across the Red Sea, have also strengthened the hopes of independence.
The security forces have largely withdrawn north of Aden in recent days. Police units, known as the central security roadblocks operate but most people let go. The traffic, however, remains low. The popular fish restaurants, known as mikhbazas, are having fewer people. In Aden, a cosmopolitan port whose importance was diminished when the south became independent from British colonial rule in 1967, residents say the northern-dominated government has eroded its way of life.
They refer to a civic tradition of tolerance and a spirit that survived the Soviet-style political system of the Democratic Republic of Yemen, formally known as the south. "I remember playing football in the streets with Christian and Jewish children. The full facial veil that women wear now in Aden was unknown to us," said engineer Mohammad Aman.
"Saleh and his followers are not satisfied with taking our land and rob us of a voice in government.'ve Been trying to destroy our identity, we used to sing songs, including architecture. Aden used to be beige buildings in harmony with nature not the disaster that brought them Technicolor, "he added.
When asked whether the unit was possible without international support, Saudi Arabia Saleh finances and the United States considers an ally in its war against Al Qaeda-Tamam Bashraheel said the president was losing its usefulness. "The West has begun to understand the game. Are beginning to understand that the argument that Saleh is a bulwark against Al Qaeda and the instability is false," Bashraheel, editor of the newspaper al-Ayyam, which was banned two years ago.
"The Southern society is religious but moderate. Al Qaeda will lose any support in a democratic south," he added. Most of the violence in Aden took place in the commercial district Mouala that business has relatively prosperous compared with national income per capita in Yemen a little over a thousand dollars.
On the main street is a large British cemetery and behind a wall is an abandoned Jewish cemetery. One of the main sites of Aden, a giant hard on picturesque volcanic rocks overlooking the deep blue Arabian Sea, has been deserted since the protests intensified two weeks ago. "The fort was renovated last year and we received up to 15 Western tourists a week.
Now there are none. Coming here was not easy even for me," said Ahmad Abdulwahed guard. But not all Southerners are in favor of the protests, have no nostalgia for the era in which the south was independent, then remember to change the autocratic socialist party and its nationalization of the economy.
"I used to queue for hours with my mother to buy bread. Saleh has stayed longer than he should and could well declare Yemen as a hereditary republic. But the alternative is not to sabotage," said Mustafa Khader, who earns a modest living selling used cars. "Aden has always suffered political crises.
We want to save us this time," he added, referring to the conflict in 1994 and a civil war in the 1980s that claimed thousands of victims. 
"He (President Ali Abdullah) Saleh, like the other Arab tyrants will fall. It will be a crucial step towards the recovery of southern independence," said financial adviser Yassin Makkawi, while chewing qat and taking a sweet drink . The nationwide protests against Saleh's 32 years in power have intensified in the last two weeks, and most of the 24 deaths about which we know occurred in the south.
Although the separatist sentiment is skin deep, the protesters in the former capital, Aden has acceded to the slogans used by the northerners to Saleh leaves office. The southerners say their incomes have fallen, society has become more conservative in religious terms, corruption is widespread, and his hometown of Aden missed the mark left that earned him the nickname "The Cuba of the Middle East." Four years after closing a weak agreement of unity with the north in 1990, civil war broke out that the South lost.
"Even the water used to taste better before. The drive was a disastrous experience in every sense of the word. We never imagined that a united Yemen would mean discrimination and domination of our land and our resources," said Makkawi. The bloody uprising in Libya, and the referendum on independence in southern Sudan in January, across the Red Sea, have also strengthened the hopes of independence.
The security forces have largely withdrawn north of Aden in recent days. Police units, known as the central security roadblocks operate but most people let go. The traffic, however, remains low. The popular fish restaurants, known as mikhbazas, are having fewer people. In Aden, a cosmopolitan port whose importance was diminished when the south became independent from British colonial rule in 1967, residents say the northern-dominated government has eroded its way of life.
They refer to a civic tradition of tolerance and a spirit that survived the Soviet-style political system of the Democratic Republic of Yemen, formally known as the south. "I remember playing football in the streets with Christian and Jewish children. The full facial veil that women wear now in Aden was unknown to us," said engineer Mohammad Aman.
"Saleh and his followers are not satisfied with taking our land and rob us of a voice in government.'ve Been trying to destroy our identity, we used to sing songs, including architecture. Aden used to be beige buildings in harmony with nature not the disaster that brought them Technicolor, "he added.
When asked whether the unit was possible without international support, Saudi Arabia Saleh finances and the United States considers an ally in its war against Al Qaeda-Tamam Bashraheel said the president was losing its usefulness. "The West has begun to understand the game. Are beginning to understand that the argument that Saleh is a bulwark against Al Qaeda and the instability is false," Bashraheel, editor of the newspaper al-Ayyam, which was banned two years ago.
"The Southern society is religious but moderate. Al Qaeda will lose any support in a democratic south," he added. Most of the violence in Aden took place in the commercial district Mouala that business has relatively prosperous compared with national income per capita in Yemen a little over a thousand dollars.
On the main street is a large British cemetery and behind a wall is an abandoned Jewish cemetery. One of the main sites of Aden, a giant hard on picturesque volcanic rocks overlooking the deep blue Arabian Sea, has been deserted since the protests intensified two weeks ago. "The fort was renovated last year and we received up to 15 Western tourists a week.
Now there are none. Coming here was not easy even for me," said Ahmad Abdulwahed guard. But not all Southerners are in favor of the protests, have no nostalgia for the era in which the south was independent, then remember to change the autocratic socialist party and its nationalization of the economy.
"I used to queue for hours with my mother to buy bread. Saleh has stayed longer than he should and could well declare Yemen as a hereditary republic. But the alternative is not to sabotage," said Mustafa Khader, who earns a modest living selling used cars. "Aden has always suffered political crises.
We want to save us this time," he added, referring to the conflict in 1994 and a civil war in the 1980s that claimed thousands of victims.
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