Yemeni police free 7 activists

Yemeni police forces on Friday freed seven activists of the pro-secession Southern Movement from the central jail in southern port city of Aden, a government official told Xinhua. Those activists and separatist leaders were released from the Mansoura central jail after three months in detention, the local official said on condition of anonymity, adding "all the pro- secession activists were freed following a direct orders from the interior ministry leadership." Last Monday, Yemeni authorities released four pro-secession activists from a jail in the capital Sanaa, a move officials said to enhance ongoing national dialogue and resolve the country's prolonged political crisis. The activists were arrested in Aden a few weeks ago during a demonstration which called for seceding the south from the north and restoring the formerly independent southern state. The southerners complain of being economically and politically marginalized and discriminated against since northern troops won a four-month civil war in 1994. Thousands of supporters of pro-secession Southern Movement staged almost daily rallies to protest against the national reconciliation dialogue, which was launched last month by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, as part of a political settlement to preserve the Yemeni unity. The talks, which was set to run for six months, aimed to end the split between northern and southern regions, draft a new constitution and pave the way for general elections by the end of Hadi's two-year interim period in February 2014. However, some leaders of the Southern Movement refused to join the talks, insisting that the Sanaa government should withdraw its troops from the south first.