Yemeni forces deploy in Aden -Art for art's sake

HELLO LADYS AND GENTELMAN
Yemeni security forces spread out across the southern port city of Aden yesterday, clamping down on any display of secessionist sentiment on the anniversary of the south's independence from Britain



, Residents said hundreds of soldiers lined the streets of Aden, where southern activists had been planning a festival to commemorate the day the last British soldier departed in 1967.In the run-up to the anniversary several clashes erupted between the Sana'a government and southerners, who have long complained that northerners abused a 1990 unity agreement to exploit their resources and discriminate against them.Southern activist websites said security forces had blocked off all entrances to Aden, where the authorities had warned against gatherings or demonstrations without a permit.Yemen's government is already fighting a revolt in the north by minority Zaydi Shi'ites, who also complain of neglect and oppression. Neighbouring Saudi Arabia was recently drawn into the northern conflict when rebels seized some Saudi territory.Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, fears growing instability in Yemen is giving al-Qaeda an opportunity to strengthen its foothold in its impoverished neighbour.On Sunday, activists shot dead a soldier in the southern province of Shabwa. A second soldier died of wounds from clashes there on Wednesday, according to a security official.Secessionists also clashed with the armed forces in the Radfan region on Sunday. One person was killed and a grenade hit the local intelligence headquarters, the same official said.Members of activist group Southern Movement killed two northern tribesmen in another town, the official said.Violence erupted this year after an April 28 opposition rally to mark the 1994 civil war in which President Ali Abdullah Saleh's forces defeated the secessionist south, known before the unity deal as the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen.Protests led by army officers, riled by their meagre pensions after forced retirement, turned violent in 2007.As discontent over jobs and other economic grievances widened, southern leaders have talked of northern "occupation" and called for secession.
MA ROOSTER DON'T SUCKLE US
VALENCIAN GUERRILLA FIGHTER

OBAMA TO ANNUNCE IRAQ TROOP CUTS

HELLO MISTERS AND LADYS:

Obama to announce Iraq troop cuts
There are currently about 142,000 USsoldiers stationed in Iraq [AFP]
Barack Obama, the US president, is expected to announce his plan to withdraw the bulk of US troops from Iraq by mid-2010, though tens of thousands will be left behind to advise Iraqi forces and protect US interests.
Obama will make the announcement on Friday, US media quoted congressional officials as saying.
The plan would pull combat troops out of Iraq 19 months after Obama ook office, slightly longer than the 16 months he promised while on the campaign trail in 2008.
Obama reportedly told legislators that he plans to keep between 35,000 and 50,000 US support troops in Iraq.
The maintenance of a residual force for a period of time does not come as a surprise, but some in Obama's own party have questioned the size of it.
"When they talk about 50,000, that's a little higher number than I had anticipated," Harry Reid, the senate majority leader, said.
Friday's expected Iraq announcement comes a day after he unveiled an ambitious budget that promises a major overhaul of America's costly healthcare system and sets aside an additional $750bn to help rescue America's troubled financial system.
There are currently about 142,000 US troops stationed in Iraq.
An existing US-Iraq agreement, the Status of Forces Agreement negotiated under George Bush, the former president, calls for US troops to withdraw from Baghdad and other cities by the end of June, with all American forces out of the country by the end of 2011.
Obama was expected to announce the new strategy during a trip to the Marine Corps base at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, on Friday.
More than 4,250 US military members have died since the war began in March 2003, though US military deaths plunged by two-thirds in 2008 from the previous year, a reflection of improving security after a troop build-upin 2007.

MANY THANK

NO NOS MAMEN MAS GALLO

GUERRILLERO VALENCIANO