Aden/Abu Dhabi, Jan 8 (.) Yemen’s separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) leader Aidarous Al-Zubaidi fled the country in a clandestine operation involving sea and air transfers before arriving in Abu Dhabi, according to the Saudi-led military coalition, in a disclosure that highlights the deepening rupture within the anti-Houthi alliance.
Speaking on Thursday, coalition spokesperson Turki Al-Malki said Al-Zubaidi left Aden late on January 7 after coordinating directly with senior Emirati military officials. Al-Malki described a carefully choreographed escape that saw the STC leader move first by sea, then by air, while repeatedly disabling vessel and aircraft identification systems.
According to the coalition’s account, Al-Zubaidi departed the Port of Aden aboard a vessel named BAMEDHAF, which sailed toward Somaliland.
While en route to the Port of Berbera, the ship switched off its tracking systems, a move Al-Malki said raised immediate suspicion.
The vessel was sailing under the flag of Saint Kitts and Nevis, the same flag previously used by another ship, GREENLAND, which the coalition alleges transported combat vehicles and weapons from Fujairah to Yemen’s port of Mukalla.
After reaching Somaliland, Al-Zubaidi reportedly contacted UAE Maj General Awad Al-Ahbabi, commander of joint operations in the UAE Armed Forces, to confirm his arrival and coordinate onward travel.
He then boarded an aircraft accompanied by Emirati officers and flew from Berbera to Mogadishu, Somalia.
Al-Malki said the aircraft departed Mogadishu airport without declaring a destination and again switched off its identification systems while flying over the Gulf of Oman.
“Ten minutes before landing at Al-Reef military airport in Abu Dhabi, the plane reactivated its identification,” he said, describing what he characterised as an effort to avoid detection.
“At present, coalition forces are analysing information related to individuals who were the last to meet Al-Zubaidi before his flight from Aden,” Al-Malki added, suggesting further scrutiny of those linked to his departure.
The account places the UAE at the centre of Al-Zubaidi’s escape, further straining the already tension-laden ties between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.
Both countries have been involved in Yemen for nearly a decade against the Iran-backed Houthi militants, but their priorities have increasingly diverged.
KSA has been supporting Yemen’s internationally recognised government, while the UAE has long backed the STC and its push to re-establish an independent South Yemen.
The divergence has sharpened in recent weeks as STC forces, backed by Abu Dhabi, seized territory and clashed with units loyal to the Presidential Leadership Council.
KSA officials, meanwhile, have warned that the separatist advance threatens Yemen’s stability and the Kingdom’s own southern border, framing the STC’s actions as a direct security concern.
Neither the STC nor the UAE has publicly responded to the coalition’s detailed account.
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