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The coalition says the separatist leader took a boat in Berbera and then boarded a ferry to Abu Dhabi via Mogadishu.
Published on January 8, 2026
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen has declared itself the separatist leader Southern Transitional Council (STC) has since fled to the United Arab Emirates via Somaliland skip Peace talks planned in Riyadh.
The coalition said in a statement on Thursday Idaras al-Zubaidi The ship, which had left Aden in Yemen for the port of Berbera in Somaliland, was “released at the end of the night” on Wednesday.
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Al-Zubaidi then boarded a plane with UAE officials and flew to Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. “The aircraft switched off its identification system over the Gulf of Oman, then turned it back ten minutes before arriving at Al Reef Military Airport in Abu Dhabi,” the statement said.
There was no immediate comment from STC or the UAE.
If confirmed, the move could further escalate tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE after the Abu Dhabi-backed STC launched an offensive against Riyadh-backed Yemeni government forces in December.
The STC – which initially backed Yemen’s internationally recognized government against Houthi rebels in northern Yemen – is seeking an independent state in southern Yemen. Riyadh seized control of the provinces of Hadramaut and Mahra, which border Saudi Arabia, in an operation described as a red line for its national security.
The Saudi-led coalition retaliated Air strikes At the Yemeni port of Mukalla on December 30, it drew attention to what it called a UAE-related arms shipment and backed calls by the internationally recognized government of Yemen for the withdrawal of Emirati forces from the country.
For its part, Abu Dhabi denied the shipment contained weapons and expressed its commitment to ensuring Riyadh’s security. That same day, he announced the end of what he called the “counter-terrorism mission” in Yemen.
Yemeni government forces, backed by Saudi airstrikes, reclaimed Hadramaut and Mahra, and the STC said on Saturday it would attend peace talks hosted by Saudi Arabia.
But al-Zubaidi was not on the Yemen Air flight that took the STC delegation to Riyadh on Wednesday, the coalition said.
The head of the internationally recognized government’s Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad al-Alimi, meanwhile announced that al-Zubaidi had been removed from the council for “high treason”.
Al-Alimi said he has asked the country’s attorney general to open an investigation and take legal action against al-Zubaidi.
