Yemeni separatist chief fled to UAE, Saudi-led coalition says

Yemen's separatist leader has fled to the UAE with Emirati help, the Saudi-led coalition said on Thursday, after a failed military advance that roiled relations between the Gulf countries.

Aidarous Al-Zubaidi was accused of high treason and removed from Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council on Wednesday, while the coalition bombed his home province after he refused to attend talks in Riyadh.

To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement.

Accept Manage my choices

One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site.

Try again

Zubaidi's UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) seized swaths of territory last month and he announced a two-year transition to independence before the group was pushed back under Saudi military pressure.

A coalition statement detailed Zubaidi's boat-and-plane journey from Aden to Abu Dhabi via Somaliland, a breakaway region in the Horn of Africa, and Somalia.

"Reliable intelligence indicates that Aidarous Al-Zubaidi and others have escaped in the dead of night," the statement said.

Zubaidi sailed from Aden to Somaliland's Berbera – whose port is run by DP World, a United Arab Emirates state-owned company – after midnight on Wednesday, the coalition said.

He then flew in a Russian-made Ilyushin plane to Mogadishu "under the supervision of UAE officers", before continuing to a military airport in Abu Dhabi, arriving on Wednesday evening, it added.

An STC official contacted by AFP on Thursday insisted Zubaidi was still in Yemen. The UAE foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Somalia's immigration agency said it was investigating an "alleged unauthorised use of Somalia's national airspace and airports".

'WANTED'

Last month's STC offensive brought fresh turbulence to fractured Yemen, the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country, and exposed a deep rift between Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Read moreYemen is back from the brink, but frenemies Saudi Arabia and UAE have much to negotiate

The oil-rich neighbours formed the backbone of the coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, who overran the capital Sanaa in 2014 and still control much of the country.

Riyadh and Abu Dhabi now find themselves backing competing factions in Yemen's internationally recognised government, which includes the STC and is based in the group's southern stronghold of Aden.

Cinzia Bianco, a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said helping Zubaidi flee would indicate the UAE is in "damage-control mode".

"I think it means a retrenchment of UAE influence in Yemen for sure," she added. "Which is also partly because Saudi Arabia is simply the most relevant external player."

Watch more'Very challenging: Lack of stability, security' in Yemen amid decade-long civil war

The STC moved into Hadramawt and Mahra provinces bordering Saudi Arabia and Oman in December, before being pushed back by air strikes from Saudi jets and a counter-offensive by pro-Saudi land forces.

On Wednesday, the STC said its delegation of more than 50 officials had been "arbitrarily detained and taken to an unknown location" after flying to Riyadh for talks.

The Saudi ambassador to Yemen, Mohamed AlJabir, posted a picture with 19 officials on Thursday, saying he met the STC delegation and discussed a conference on south Yemen to be held in Riyadh soon.

In a sign of Saudi anger, Riyadh-based Arab News printed a front-page headline of "WANTED" with a photo of Zubaidi in military fatigues.

A Yemeni security official told AFP that units from the Saudi-backed Nation Shield forces had arrived in Aden and were awaiting deployment in coordination with forces there.

Government buildings in Aden are being guarded by forces controlled by Zubaidi's deputy, who is in Riyadh and approved his demotion from the Presidential Leadership Council.

The STC seeks to restore independence after Yemen was formally divided between North and South from 1967 to 1990.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)