Security boosted in volatile south Yemen ahead of presidential vote

Feb 19, 2012, 8:31 GMT

Sana'a - Yemeni authorities have tightened security in the south of the country where secessionists are calling for a boycott of the early one-candidate presidential election, local media reported on Sunday.

A large contingent of troops, backed by dozens of armoured vehicles, has been deployed across the province of Aden, according to witnesses quoted by the independent website Change.

The election scheduled for Tuesday is the centrepiece of a United Nations-sponsored deal signed in November by the outgoing president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, and the opposition for a peaceful transfer of power.

Vice President Abd Rabbu Mansur Hadi is running unchallenged for the presidency of the Arabian Peninsula country that has seen protests and violence over the last year.

One man was killed and three injured in two separate attacks at election offices on Saturday and Friday in Aden, the latest such assaults to target the body preparing for the polls, according to the website.

On Saturday unknown gunmen attacked an election office and clashed with its guards in the southern province of Lahj.

The Southern Movement, which is demanding secession from the republic, has described the election as a 'farce' and called for collective acts of civil disobedience on Tuesday.