Yemens Chief Aidarous al-Zubaidi Accused of Treason by Rivals

Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council Removes Aidarous al-Zubaidi from Post

Aidarous al-Zubaidi, the chairman of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), has been removed from his position as council member by Rashad al-Alimi, the chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC). Al-Zubaidi was stripped of his immunity and referred to the public prosecutor on charges of “high treason”. The decree accuses him of forming armed gangs, harming the Republic’s political and military standing, and leading a military rebellion.

Al-Zubaidi had previously been appointed to the PLC in April 2022 as part of an effort to unify the anti-Houthi front. However, he never abandoned his goal of restoring the pre-1990 southern state. In interviews with international media, al-Zubaidi outlined a vision for a federal “State of South Arabia” and expressed openness to the Abraham Accords.

Al-Zubaidi’s life has been marked by turmoil in southern Yemen. He graduated from the air force academy in Aden as a second lieutenant in 1988 but was forced into exile after the 1994 civil war. He returned to Yemen in 1996 to found Haq Taqreer al-Maseer, an armed group that carried out assassinations against northern military officials.

In recent years, al-Zubaidi has played a key role in southern resistance movements and was appointed governor of Aden in December 2015. However, his alliance with the government was short-lived, and he formed the STC in April 2017 after being dismissed from his position. The STC built a formidable paramilitary force that frequently clashed with government troops.

The Saudi-led coalition announced on Wednesday that al-Zubaidi had “fled to an unknown destination” after failing to answer a summons to Riyadh, but the STC denies this claim. Al-Zubaidi’s current whereabouts are unclear.

Source: Al Jazeera