Aidarous al-Zubaidi, the leader of the UAE-backed southern separatist movement, left Yemen by boat and then flew to Mogadishu, stopping at a military airport in Abu Dhabi, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said.
Zubaidi’s departure has deepened tensions between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the two most powerful states in the oil-rich Persian Gulf region. He did not attend talks scheduled for Riyadh to address the unrest in southern Yemen.
The separatists say Zubaidi was forced to travel to Saudi Arabia under threat.
Saudi Arabia’s accusations that the UAE helped Al-Zubaidi escape are further exacerbating the situation, given that the crisis began last month when separatist forces seized control of southern Yemen and moved closer to Saudi Arabia’s borders.
The developments have exposed deep divisions between two key U.S. allies, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The result has been a fractured coalition led by Yemen’s internationally recognized government fighting the Iran-backed Houthis.
The two countries are at odds over a range of sensitive issues in the Middle East, from regional geopolitics to oil production disputes, which have been particularly acute during the Yemeni crisis.
