The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said Thursday that Aidarous Al-Zubaidi, leader of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), secretly left Yemen and traveled to Somalia before reaching the United Arab Emirates, after failing to attend planned peace talks in Riyadh.
According to foreign media, Coalition spokesperson Turki al-Malki told Xinhua that intelligence showed Al-Zubaidi and others departed the Yemeni port city of Aden after midnight Wednesday aboard a vessel heading toward Berbera in Somaliland. The ship reportedly switched off its identification systems en route and arrived around noon.
According to the coalition, Al-Zubaidi contacted an Emirati military officer upon arrival in Berbera before boarding a military aircraft. The plane departed without announcing a destination, landing in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu in the afternoon. After remaining on the ground for roughly an hour, it took off again, switched off its identification systems over the Gulf of Oman, and later landed at Al Reef military airport in Abu Dhabi that evening.
Coalition forces said they are continuing to track information related to several Yemeni figures believed to have been among the last to meet Al-Zubaidi in Aden, adding that contact with them has since been lost.
If verified, Al-Zubaidi’s departure could deepen tensions between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, whose interests in Yemen have increasingly diverged. Tensions escalated in December after STC forces seized control of Yemen’s oil-rich Hadramout province and neighboring Al-Mahrah province from troops loyal to the internationally recognized government.
Formed in 2017 and widely seen as backed by the UAE, the STC seeks autonomy and eventual independence for southern Yemen.
