About 3,000 people took to the streets across southern Yemen in a "Friday of Rage," demanding secession from the north, but heavily deployed security forces quickly stamped out protests, residents told Reuters.

The protests come after a wave of anti-government rallies spread across Yemen during the past two weeks, inspired by revolts that ousted Tunisia's former president and the uprising in Egypt that threatened President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule.

"Revolution, revolution for the South," protesters chanted in the flashpoint cities of Aden, Dalea and Zinjibar.

--  Molly Hennessy-Fiske

Photo: Protesters shout slogans as they march in Sanaa, Yemen, on Friday toting posters of the late Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser in support of anti-government protesters in Egypt. Credit: Khaled Abdulla / Reuters