Southern Movement denied on Sunday that its armed followers had set fire to a camping sit-in belonging to revolutionary protesters, who call for the overthrow of president and change, in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden.

A group of gunmen believed to be affiliated with the Southern Movement, which calls for the separation of the south, attacked revolutionary protesters in Crater district of Aden late on Saturday and set their camping tents on fire.

The movement leadership condemned the attack, denying it has any thing to do with it.

After the assault on the protesters sit-in, flags of the former south Yemen has been raised by the attackers, local media reported on Saturday.

Southern Movement, which is otherwise known as the Separation Movement, has asserted it has chose the peaceful struggle since its launch in 2007 and it will continue for its rightful demands peacefully.

The movement has called for boycotting the upcoming presidential elections set to be held in February 21, although the sole candidate for it is from the south. Its followers have reportedly forces polling committees out of their centers on Saturday.

Some southerners complain that they have been marginalized by the government since the reunifications in 1990. Joint Meeting Parties, the main opposition bloc in the country, has suggested appointing a president form the south as apart of an effort to preserve unity.

There are major divisions among the SM's leaders; while some call for federal governance like the former south Yemen's leader, Ali Nasser Mohamed, others insist on complete separation of the north, including former south Yemen's president Ali Sallem al-Biyath, who has signed the unity accord with Yemeni outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh.