Saudi Arabia alleges UAE smuggled wanted Yemen separatist leader out of the country

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia said Thursday that the United Arab Emirates smuggled a separatist leader in Yemen wanted for treason out of the country and flew him to Abu Dhabi.

The UAE had no immediate reaction to the accusation, which further escalates tensions between the neighboring nations on the Arabian Peninsula as their partnership in the yearslong war in Yemen breaks down.

A Saudi military statement said that Aidarous al-Zubaidi, the leader of the Southern Transitional Council, fled Yemen by boat to Somalia. Al-Zubaidi was then flown to Abu Dhabi, the UAE's capital, the statement said.

Saudi-Emirati relations sour

The UAE has been the major supporter of the council, known as the STC, which sparked a confrontation between Saudi Arabia and the UAE in recent days, after STC fighters advanced in two governorates and appeared to be preparing to secede from Yemen.

The Saudi statement from Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki included him naming a major general in the UAE as being involved in al-Zubaidi's purported escape, along with identifying his nom de guerre — something highly unusual in Gulf Arab relations. It also suggested that an Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft used in the operation had been deployed in ''conflict zones'' like Ethiopia, Libya and Somalia — routes that the Emirati military has been accused of funneling weapons through in the past.

The UAE has denied running guns into those areas. The Emirati Foreign Ministry didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

The STC didn't immediately acknowledge the allegation either, saying Wednesday that al-Zubaidi had remained in Aden, where forces allied against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels had congregated for years since the rebels seized Yemen's capital, Sanaa.

A meeting with the STC

Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed al-Jaber, said on X on Thursday morning that he met with the STC delegation that landed in Riyadh a day earlier. They discussed al-Zubaidi's recent actions, which he said ''harmed the southern cause and didn't serve it.''

''We also explored ways to work in the future to address what happened in a manner that serves the Southern cause, the Coalition's efforts to achieve security and stability in Yemen, and we addressed the arrangements for the Southern Cause Conference, which will be held in Riyadh soon,'' he said.

Meanwhile, Mohamed al-Ghaithi, an STC member and head of the negotiation and reconciliation committee supporting the Presidential Leadership Council, called the meeting with al-Jaber ''fruitful" and praised the kingdom's initiative to sponsor the conference aimed at finding a resolution in the south. Al-Ghaithi confirmed that the delegation ''rejected everything that harms unity.''

Southern Yemen had been run under the Presidential Leadership Council, a group including al-Zubaidi and others, since 2022. On Wednesday, the leadership council expelled al-Zubaidi and charged him with treason after he apparently declined to fly to Saudi Arabia for talks. It marked the latest pushback against the STC by Saudi Arabia, which also recently launched airstrikes against the group and an arms shipment the kingdom said came from the UAE.

Addressing long-standing grievances

Meanwhile, Hans Grundberg, the U.N. special envoy for Yemen, met Thursday with PLC members in Riyadh to discuss developments in Yemen and its broader implications, according to a statement released by the envoy's office.

Grundberg said that an anticipated conference expected to be hosted by the kingdom ''offers a timely opportunity to reduce tensions, address long-standing grievances through political means, and move discussions towards stabilization.''

Background on the conflict

The U.S., which earlier praised Saudi-Emirati efforts to end the crisis over the separatists, has launched airstrikes against the Houthi rebels under both Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Saudi Arabia's foreign minister met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Wednesday.

This latest accusation will further strain ties between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, OPEC members and neighbors that increasingly have competed over economic issues and regional politics, particularly in the Red Sea area. The Yemen dispute has become their most serious confrontation in decades.

The Saudi statement came as part of what appeared to be an organized media push over the incident by Saudi broadcasters and newspapers that offered details that could prove embarrassing for the Emiratis. The Saudi-owned satellite news channel Al Arabiya aired what it described as intercepted telephone calls highlighting al-Zubaidi's alleged escape.

Saudi Arabia's English-language newspaper Arab News offered a front-page image of al-Zubaidi under the headline ''WANTED'' in the style of a poster from the American Old West. A scathing front-page editorial by the state-backed newspaper said that the separatist leader's refusal to come to the kingdom was ''cementing his image as a traitor to his country.''

''Al-Zubaidi chose narrow self-interest, aligning with foreign powers at the expense of his homeland and attempting to impose southern secession by force,'' the editorial said. ''His sole aim: to seize power for himself.''