Yemen separatist leader flees after he was accused of treason for secession attempt

Yemen’s Saudi-led coalition attacks the home province of a UAE-backed separatist leader after he was kicked out of the presidency and accused of “high treason” for attempting to secede.

More than 15 airstrikes hit Dhale, home governorate of Aidaros Alzubidi, whose Southern Transitional Council grabbed swaths of territory last month before seeing the advance rolled back by the coalition and pro-Saudi forces. Four people were killed in the airstrikes, two hospital sources tells AFP.

Alzubidi fled and mobilized “large forces” in Yemen’s southwest, around Aden, after failing to attend talks in Riyadh, the coalition claims.

Alzubidi “fled to an unknown location… after he had distributed weapons and ammunition to dozens of elements inside Aden,” coalition spokesperson Major General Turki al-Maliki says in a statement.

The coalition carried out new strikes to prevent Alzubidi from “escalating the conflict” and extending it into Dhale governorate, he says.

Alzubidi had been due to travel to the Saudi capital Riyadh yesterday for talks aimed at easing the clashes. But his plane was delayed and he was not on board when it departed, the coalition said.

An STC official tells AFP that AlZubidi decided not to fly to Saudi Arabia after receiving information that he would be asked to dissolve the group, which forms part of the Presidential Leadership Council. The official says the delegation left for Riyadh without Aidaros.

In a statement, the Presidential Leadership Council, which holds executive power and groups rival factions, announces Zubidi’s removal, accusing him of high treason.

“It has been established that [AlZubidi] has abused the just cause of the South and exploited it to commit grave crimes against civilians in the southern governorates,” it says.