Saudi Arabia Accuses UAE of Smuggling Yemeni Separatist Leader
Explosive allegation deepens Gulf rift over Yemen conflict.
Saudi Arabia on Thursday levelled serious allegations against the United Arab Emirates, accusing it of facilitating the escape of a senior Yemeni separatist leader wanted on charges of treason. The accusation marks a sharp escalation in tensions between the two Gulf neighbors, whose alliance in the long-running Yemen war has increasingly fractured amid competing political and strategic interests.
In a statement released by the Saudi military, officials claimed that Aidarous al-Zubaidi, leader of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), fled Yemen by boat to Somalia before being transported by air to Abu Dhabi with the assistance of Emirati authorities. The STC, backed for years by the UAE, has recently expanded its territorial control in southern Yemen, intensifying fears of a unilateral push toward secession and provoking direct confrontation with Saudi-backed forces.
The statement, issued by Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, went beyond customary diplomatic language by publicly naming a senior Emirati military officer allegedly involved in the operation and detailing the aircraft said to have been used. Saudi officials claimed the Ilyushin Il-76 involved had previously operated in multiple conflict zones, a reference widely interpreted as an attempt to link the UAE to past accusations of covert arms transfers in the region.
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The UAE did not immediately respond to the allegations, while the STC rejected claims that al-Zubaidi had left Aden, maintaining that he remained in the city. The controversy follows a decisive move by Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, which expelled al-Zubaidi and formally charged him with treason after he reportedly declined to travel to Saudi Arabia for talks, underscoring Riyadh’s growing resolve to curb the separatist movement.
The episode highlights the deepening rift between Saudi Arabia and the UAE over Yemen, a conflict that has claimed more than 150,000 lives and triggered one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises. With both countries now increasingly competing for regional influence, particularly around the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, the dispute threatens to further destabilize diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the war and restoring Yemen’s political unity.
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