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Why southern Yemen is pushing for secession
Boy howdy, that whole union thing with the North and them funny-talkin', funny-thinkin' folks really has worked out well ...
Aden and Sanaa, Yemen -- As Yemen struggles to quell Houthi rebels in the north, a secession movement gathering steam in the south threatens to deprive the central government of badly needed resources. While outside analysts have become increasingly concerned that the two conflicts are creating an unstable state where Al Qaeda could more freely operate, the chief domestic concern is more pressing: survival.

"The south has all the resources and only one third of the population. We cannot allow them to secede," said a member of the opposition party Islah in the capital, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak for the party. "Northerners will fight to keep Yemen together. They know it is a matter of survival."

More than 70 percent of Yemen's revenue comes from its oil exports. Studies by both the World Bank and the United Nations Development Fund predict a precipitous decline in Yemeni oil production over the next five years, raising the stakes for control of the dwindling supplies.
Posted by: Steve White 2009-12-17
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=285829