"The Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen has announced that the leader of the secessionist Southern Transitional Council (STC) has fled to the United Arab Emirates via Somaliland after skipping planned peace talks in Riyadh. In a statement on Thursday, the coalition said Aidarous al-Zubaidi escaped in the dead of night on Wednesday on board a vessel that departed Aden in Yemen for the port of Berbera in Somaliland."
"If confirmed, the move could deepen the feud between Saudi Arabia and the UAE that came to light after the Abu Dhabi-backed STC launched an offensive against the Riyadh-backed Yemeni government troops in December. The STC which initially supported Yemen's internationally recognised government against the Houthi rebels in northern Yemen is seeking an independent state in southern Yemen. It seized the provinces of Hadramout and Mahra, which border Saudi Arabia, in a campaign that Riyadh described as a red line for its national security."
Aidarous al-Zubaidi, leader of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), escaped Aden by vessel to Berbera in Somaliland and then flew to Abu Dhabi via Mogadishu. The Saudi-led coalition reported the plane turned off its identification systems over the Gulf of Oman and reactivated them ten minutes before landing at Al Reef military airport in Abu Dhabi. The STC did not immediately comment and the UAE issued no immediate statement. The move could worsen the Saudi–UAE rift following the STC offensive against Riyadh-backed Yemeni government forces and subsequent Saudi air strikes on Mukalla targeting an alleged UAE-linked weapons shipment.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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