Prior to the unification of Yemen in 1990, southern Yemen was an independent socialist state. It tried to secede in 1994, leading to a bloody civil war that ended in triumph for Saleh and his vision of unification. The separatists are still quite popular in the south, mostly due to grievances about unequal distribution of resources by the north.
The southern movement supports the antigovernment protesters, but its demands for economic equality and greater political representation go far beyond Saleh’s resignation.
