(Décidément les UAE se confrontent à l'Arabie Saoudite. En tant que proxy d'Israël et des States les UAE agissent pour punir l'Arabie Saoudite de sa nn adhésion aux accords d'abraham. note de rené)

Saudi Arabia accuses UAE of helping separatist leader flee Yemen to Somaliland

By Elis Gjevori and Bashir Mohamed Caato. MEE

Published date: 8 January 2026 07:27 GMT | Last update: 2 hours 35 mins ago

Saudi Arabia has accused the United Arab Emirates of orchestrating a covert operation to extract Aidarous al-Zubaidi from Yemen after the separatist leader was charged with high treason, intensifying tensions between nominal allies.

On Thursday, Major General Turki al-Maliki, the spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen, said intelligence showed that Zubaidi, head of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), left Aden late on 7 January by sea.

According to the coalition, Zubaidi and his entourage boarded a vessel named Bamedhaf shortly after midnight, departing the port of Aden and switching off identification systems while sailing towards Somaliland.

The ship later docked in Berbera around midday.

Maliki's statement said Zubaidi then contacted Major General Awad Saeed bin Musleh al-Hababi, described as the commander of joint operations in the UAE armed forces, to inform him of his arrival.

Soon after, the group boarded an Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft and departed without declaring a destination, he added.

The aircraft is then said to have landed at Mogadishu International Airport at 15:15 local time, remained for about an hour, and then flew towards the Gulf.

Somali government sources told Middle East Eye that the Saudi authorities had informed them tha Zubaidi travelled from Berbera to Mogadishu. They said they were not aware of his presence in the Somali capital before his plane flew to Abu Dhabi.

A Somali government statement later said authorities were now determining whether there has been any breach of law through the unauthorised use of Somalia's air space and air ports to aid a fugitive.

Saudi Arabia tracks UAE military movements

According to Maliki, the plane again disabled its identification systems over the Gulf of Oman before reactivating them shortly before landing at al-Reef military airport in Abu Dhabi at 20:47 Saudi time.

He said the aircraft type is commonly used in conflict zones along routes linking Libya, Ethiopia and Somalia.

Maliki added that maritime records show Bamedhaf sails under the flag of Saint Kitts and Nevis, the same registry as another vessel previously accused of carrying combat vehicles and weapons from the UAE's Fujairah to Yemen's Mukalla, which Saudi Arabia bombed on 30 December after identifying the shipment as Emirati.

Coalition forces said they continue to track figures believed to have met Zubaidi before his escape, including former Aden governor Ahmed Hamid Lamlas and Security Belt Forces commander Mohsen al-Wali, with whom contact has reportedly been lost.

Maliki said on Wednesday that Zubaidi ignored instructions on Sunday by coalition leaders to travel to Saudi Arabia within 48 hours for talks on escalating violence as Saudi-backed Yemeni forces rolled back sweeping gains the STC had made in the provinces of Hadhramaut and al-Mahra last month.

The accusation came a day after Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), the country’s internationally recognised authority, charged Zubaidi with high treason, alleging he damaged Yemen’s political and military standing, formed an armed group, committed serious violations against civilians, killed officers and soldiers, and sabotaged military facilities.

Missing separatist officials

Amr al-Bidh, a senior foreign affairs official for the STC, told Middle East Eye during a media briefing that the group had not heard from its delegation, which includes over 50 people, since they arrived in the Saudi capital at 3am local time on Wednesday.

Bidh said that a source who was on the plane but not part of the delegation told him that the delegates were put on a bus by authorities in Riyadh and not seen since. 

After the STC said earlier on Wednesday that it had lost contact with the delegation, a post appeared on the X account of Mohammed al-Gaithi, a senior STC official, which said that he had arrived in the Saudi capital "in a positive atmosphere" and would begin a series of meetings. 

However, Bidh said that family members of the delegation had heard nothing from their relatives, and had also reached out to Saudi authorities - who did not respond. Zubaidi, the head of the UAE-backed STC, was due to join the delegation but pulled out at the last minute. 

The Yemeni arena has been the source of a rare public falling out between Abu Dhabi and Riyadh.

Last week, Saudi Arabia condemned the UAE's role in backing southern separatists in Yemen, and bombed an Emirati shipment which had arrived in the port city of Mukalla. 

The UAE said it was "surprised" by the Saudi strike, and said Riyadh's account contained "fundamental inaccuracies".

But shortly after the strike, the UAE announced that it was to withdraw all its military personnel from Yemen "in light of recent developments".