Yemen’s anti-Houthi council expels separatist leader, charged with treason
A council fighting against Yemen’s Houthi rebels said on Wednesday that it had expelled the leader of a separatist movement and charged him with treason after he reportedly declined to travel to Saudi Arabia for talks.
The Statement, carried by the SABA news agency affiliated with the anti-Houthi forces, marks a new escalation between Saudi-backed forces and the Southern Transitional Council, or STC, which had been backed by the United Arab Emirates. The rift deepens uncertainty over Yemen’s future, already strained by more than a decade of war in the Arab world’s poorest country.
An STC delegation that flew to Riyadh was scheduled to attend a meeting to discuss the situation in the southern governorates, but the STC said in a Statement it lost contact with the delegation after it landed. It expressed “deep concern” over the matter. The STC said leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi remained in Aden. It also accused Saudi Arabia of launching airstrikes in Yemen’s al-Dhale governorate and causing casualties.
“While a senior STC delegation is in Saudi Arabia pursuing negotiations, the President remains in Aden to ensure security and stability,” wrote Amr al-Bidh, an STC official focused on foreign affairs. “He will not abandon his people, and he will engage directly when conditions allow.”
The Presidential Leadership Council, or PLC, headed by Rashad al-Alimi, accused al-Zubaidi of “damaging the republic’s military, political and economic standing,” as well as “forming an armed gang and committing the murder of officers and soldiers of the armed forces,” according to the SABA Statement.
New airstrikes in Yemen: More than 15 Saudi airstrikes overnight hit the al-Dhale governorate, targeting STC camps, according to STC leader Salah bin Laghir. Meanwhile, two eyewitnesses, Hossam Mohsen and Mohamed Awlaqi, told The Associated Press that armored vehicles affiliated with the STC left Aden overnight heading to al-Dahle.
Other witnesses, Khaled Mathni and Abdallah Abeid, said they saw drones in the sky and flames rising as explosions shook neighborhoods in al-Dahle city and its surrounding areas. They said they believe a weapons warehouse was targeted. In a Statement Wednesday morning, the STC said it was “surprised” by the Saudi airstrike, adding that it marks a “regrettable escalation.”
