SANAA, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- A Yemeni activist was shot dead by gunmen in the restive province of Abyan, southern Yemen, local News Yemen website reported Sunday.

Saeed Ahmed Abdullah bin Doud, a member of the Socialist Party - a major opposition party - was killed by unidentified men overnight last Friday, the website quoted a statement by the party.

President of the Political Department of the Socialist Party in Abyan province, Ali Dahmas, accused the government of negligence for not giving much care to arrest perpetrators."

Southerners accuse the Yemeni government of leaning toward the northerners and being indifferent to people's problems, especially the development of the south.

Northern and southern Yemen was unified in 1990 according to a deal between the People's General Congress and the Yemeni Socialist Party. However, the deal fell apart, leading to a crisis between the two allies, which developed into a civil war in 1994.

The socialists in south were then crushed by the army of current President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Nowadays, some voices rise in the south calling for disengagement from the north and the restoration of the southern state.