SANAA, Yemen, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- A civil uprising is planned in southern Yemen beginning Saturday to mark a new phase of revolt against the government, secessionist leaders said.
Yemen announced Wednesday that a cease-fire agreement with Houthi rebels operating in the north of the country was holding. Apart from the Shiite rebellion in the north, Yemen is dealing with a rising threat from al-Qaida, rampant poverty and a secessionist movement in the southern provinces.
Tariq al-Fadhli, the leader of the Hirak secessionist movement, said his supporters were preparing for a civil uprising starting Saturday, the Yemeni Post reports.
"On Feb. 20, we will launch further protests, civil disobedience and a stone uprising and all these will be aimed at escalating our struggle to separate from the north," he said.
He said the southern provinces would descend into civil disobedience when the uprising carries over to the next week.
A 1994 civil war unsettled Yemeni unity, creating divisions between northern and southern forces.
The government in Sanaa cracked down on the secessionists in recent weeks, arresting dozens of supporters.
Fadhli said his loyalists were interested in civil disobedience, not violence.
