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Police troopers patrol a street after, according to the Saudi-backed coalition, Aidarous al-Zubaidi, the leader of Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC), fled Yemen by boat. | Photo Credit: Reuters
A Saudi military statement claimed Aidarous al-Zubaidi, the leader of the Southern Transitional Council, fled Yemen by boat to Somalia. Then, UAE officials flew al-Zubaidi to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the Emirates, the statement said.
The fast-moving crisis in Yemen’s south has caused a rift between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the two most powerful countries in the oil-rich Gulf, fracturing a coalition headed by Yemen’s internationally recognised government which is battling the Iran-backed Houthis.
The UAE had no immediate reaction to the claim.
A day earlier, the coalition said Zubaidi, leader of the Southern Transitional Council, had failed to board a flight to Riyadh for talks and his fate was unclear, clouding efforts to contain a military escalation that erupted last month.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE first intervened in Yemen after the Houthis seized the Yemeni capital of Sanaa in 2014.
The UAE joined the Saudi-backed coalition the following year in support of the internationally recognised government.
Published – January 08, 2026 11:47 am IST
