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A Yemeni minister accused separatist leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi of breaching commitments and fueling conflict in Aden after Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council issued a decree dismissing him from the council over alleged high treason, according to Al Arabiya and a Saudi-led coalition statement.
The Yemeni minister Ahmed Arman, in a statement to Al Arabiya, said that the southern cause cannot be reduced to a single representative; it is a just and pivotal issue in the course of building the modern Yemeni state.
Arman expressed hope that the outcomes of the comprehensive conference in Riyadh would bring together all southern components to discuss fair solutions to the southern cause and to engage in the process of building state institutions, in accordance with the frameworks of the current phase agreed upon nationally, regionally and internationally.
The head of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council on Wednesday issued a decree dismissing Zubaidi, the head of the Southern Transitional Council, from the council over alleged high treason.
Zubaidi fled to the United Arab Emirates, the Saudi-led coalition said on Thursday, after an attempt to seize swathes of territory and move toward independence.
"Reliable intelligence indicates that Zubaidi and others escaped in the dead of night," a statement from the coalition said, detailing a boat-and-plane journey from Aden to Abu Dhabi via Somaliland and Somalia.
Earlier, Saudi Arabia accused the UAE of pushing STC forces to carry out military operations along the kingdom's southern border in Hadramaut and Mahra. Abu Dhabi denied the accusation.
On Friday, Zubaidi announced a two-year "transitional phase" that would include dialogue with parties in southern Yemen and a "referendum" on the future of the south.
The STC says successive Yemeni governments have marginalized southern regions politically and economically and calls for secession. Yemeni authorities reject the claim and reaffirm their commitment to the country's unity.
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