Yemeni separatist leader declines Saudi call to travel to Riyadh for talks

Aidarous al-Zubaidi, leader of the Southern Transitional Council, refused a Saudi demand to fly to Riyadh for talks on Tuesday, deepening a standoff that the report says leaves Yemen’s sovereignty hanging in the balance. The Southern Transitional Council, which is backed by the United Arab Emirates and seeks an independent state called South Arabia, led a lightning offensive across southern Yemen last month and seized strategically located territory.

Saudi officials said those moves threatened their national security and, with Saudi support, Yemeni government forces recaptured territory over the weekend. A Saudi-led military coalition had given Mr. al-Zubaidi 48 hours to travel to Riyadh; a delegation prepared to go, but the coalition said Mr.

al-Zubaidi stayed behind, sending other officials in his place, and then launched a “limited pre-emptive strike” on his home region, saying he had fled with a “large military force.” The Yemeni government said it would prosecute Mr. al-Zubaidi for treason. The Southern Transitional Council countered that he had remained in Aden and that it had lost contact with the delegation after it arrived in Riyadh, expressing “extreme concern” about their whereabouts.

The developments have effectively become a proxy clash between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and came as officials from Yemen, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and the United States appeared to be seeking diplomatic solutions.

Key Topics

World, Aidarous Al-zubaidi, Southern Transitional Council, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Aden