Leader of the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC), Aidarous al-Zubaidi, was smuggled into Abu Dhabi, alleged the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen on Thursday.
The coalition’s claims threaten to aggravate the crisis in the Middle East, especially in Yemen’s south, where the STC’s advances have further widened the rift between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), two of the most powerful countries in the Gulf.
In a statement on Thursday, the coalition claimed that Zubaidi arrived in the UAE on an aircraft from the Somali capital of Mogadishu, after he travelled to Somaliland by boat. The coalition further went on to say that the plane to Mogadishu from Somaliland was “supervised” by “UAE officers” and that it had waited an hour before flying to a military airport in Abu Dhabi.
“The plane from Mogadishu turned off its identification system over the Gulf of Oman, then turned it back on 10 minutes prior to arrival at (Al Reef) military airport in Abu Dhabi,” the statement said.
Also Read: Yemen STC leader, al-Zubaidi, has fled: Saudi coalition
Zubaidi’s escape to the UAE a day earlier was also reported by the Saudi coalition, which stated on Thursday that the aircraft carrying Zubaidi was a type similar to those used in conflict zones en route countries such as Ethiopia and Somalia.
There has been no comment so far from either the UAE or the STC. However, following Zubaidi’s absence from Riyadh talks, his group said he was overseeing military and security operations in the southern port city of Aden.
The STC was set up in 2017 with the UAE’s backing following the latter’s intervention in Yemen’s affairs in 2014 after the Houthis seized Sanaa. Saudi Arabia too intervened in the conflict then, but UAE soon joined the Saudi-led coalition the next year in support of the internationally-recognised government.
Later, the STC joined the Yemeni government coalition that controls southern and eastern Yemen.
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