Sana'a, Yemen - Dozens of journalists staged a sit-in in the Yemeni capital Sana'a on Thursday to protest against a ban imposed on eight newspapers for publishing reports deemed by the authorities as seeking to divide the country.

The journalists gathered at the headquarters of their union and called on the authorities to end the "repressive" action against the eight newspapers.

Authorities have confiscated tens of thousands of copies of the al-Ayyam daily and also the al-Masdar, al-Watani, al-Diyar, al-Nidaa, al-Sharea, al-Mustaqila and al-Ahali weeklies.

Officials said the ban was to curb the "anti-unity" reporting in the wake of violent protests that engulfed cities in three southern provinces last week, leaving dozens of casualties among protesters and security forces.

The protests were called for by southern separatists, who call for the south to secede from the rest of Yemen.

The violence highlights the increasing tensions between southern and northern Yemen, 15 years after a civil war in 1994 that ended with the defeat of the southern military by northern forces led by President Ali Abdullah Saleh. North and South Yemen were united in 1990.

Southerners have often complain of discrimination since the 1994 war.

Information Minister Hassan Ahmad al-Lawzi told the German Press Agency dpa that the his ministry "has taken action against all newspapers that published articles or news reports harming the national unity or spreading hatred among the people."

"We did not suspend any newspaper. Any issue published by any newspaper containing items that go against the law, we are obliged to take action against them and to prosecute them," the minister said.

The move provoked outrage among journalists and their union.

"This procedure surprised us, and it was not expected. It is actually an unprecedented action," Jamal Anaam, who heads the freedom committee at the journalists union, told dpa.

"It is an overwhelming repressing action against eight independent newspapers," Anaam said.

Southern groups say they were also protesting the continued presence of military and police posts installed last year in southern cities after riots in those areas.

Authorities in Sana'a have accused leaders of the Yemeni Socialist Party, the former ruling party in the south, of inciting the violence. (dpa)