ADEN: Thousands of Yemenis gathered on Monday in the southern city of Daleh demanding the secession of the formerly independent south which was merged with North Yemen in 1990, witnesses said.

The demonstrators, who are supporters of the separatist Southern Movement, gathered at a stadium to pay tribute to those killed in clashes with authorities since the movement was launched in 2007, witnesses said.

Yemen's main southern opposition leader, Hassan Baoum, who was released from jail last year took part in the rally amid cheers from the participants who waved his pictures alongside those of former vice-president Ali Salem al-Baid.

The protesters also carried the flags of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, the formerly independent socialist state in the country's south.

“No unity, no federation. Out out colonialism,” the crowds chanted, apparently referring to northerners, particularly businessmen who settled in the south after the 1994 failed secession attempt.—AFP