Saudi-led coalition claims STCs al-Zubaidi fled to UAE through Somaliland

Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council Leader Flees to UAE via Somaliland

The Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen has announced that Aidarous al-Zubaidi, the leader of the secessionist Southern Transitional Council (STC), escaped from planned peace talks in Riyadh on Wednesday. Al-Zubaidi was found to have boarded a vessel at Aden’s port and sailed to Berbera in Somaliland before boarding a plane that flew to Abu Dhabi via Mogadishu.

According to the coalition, al-Zubaidi was accompanied by UAE officers when he departed for Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu. The plane allegedly turned off its identification systems over the Gulf of Oman and then reactivated them 10 minutes prior to arrival at Al Reef military airport in Abu Dhabi.

The STC has yet to comment on the matter, while the UAE has also remained silent. If confirmed, this development could further escalate tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which have been strained since the STC launched an offensive against Yemeni government troops in December.

The STC initially supported Yemen’s internationally recognized government against the Houthi rebels in northern Yemen but is now seeking an independent state in southern Yemen. The coalition responded to the STC’s actions with air strikes on the Yemeni port of Mukalla and backed a call for Emirati forces to withdraw from the country.

In recent days, the Saudi-led coalition announced that it would attend peace talks hosted by Saudi Arabia, while the internationally recognized government has removed al-Zubaidi from its Presidential Leadership Council for “committing high treason.”

Source: Al Jazeera