Yemen's STC says delegation in Riyadh disappeared onto bus and all contact lost
Southern separatists in Yemen lost contact with dozens of officials who were in Saudi Arabia for talks, a senior official said on Wednesday.
Amr al-Bidh, a senior foreign affairs official for the Southern Transitional Council (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.
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.
STC officials believe that the phones of their colleagues have been confiscated.
Bidh said that some of the calls to delegates were going through, but the phones were ringing out.
"Over 50 STC officials have been arbitrarily detained and taken to an unknown location by the Saudis," the group said in a statement later on Wednesday evening. "We call on their immediate release and put the onus on Saudi Arabia on their safety."
Aidarous al-Zubaidi, the head of the UAE-backed STC, was due to join the delegation but pulled out at the last minute.
Rumours circulated online that he had fled to the mountains of al-Dhale, where he is from. Bidh denied those rumours, stating that the leader was in Aden.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), the internationally recognised government of Yemen which the STC is part of, stripped Zubaidi of his membership and accused him of "high treason".
Rashad al-Alimi, chair of the PLC, said a formal investigation had been launched against Zubaidi and he had been referred to the prosecutor general.
The accusations levelled against Zubaidi include damaging Yemen’s political and military standing, forming an armed group, committing serious violations against civilians, killing officers and soldiers, and sabotaging military facilities.
A number of other representatives in the PLC aligned with the separatists were also stripped of membership.
Saudi strikes hit Zubaidi's hometown
Saudi-backed forces on Wednesday were reportedly advancing towards Aden.
Bidh said that the STC were still in control of Aden, but had left Hadhramaut and al-Mahra, where Saudi-backed forces had reasserted control.
It marks quite a turnaround for the STC, who launched a lightning offensive in early December that saw them take over large swathes of territory in southeastern Yemen.
Saudi Arabia carried out at least 15 strikes on al-Dhale, Zubaidi's hometown province, on Wednesday. Bidh said that the "unjustified" bombing killed at least two civilians, and wounded 14 others.
The Saudi military described it as "pre-emptive strikes" aimed at disabling Zubaidi's "attempts to escalate the conflict".
Bidh said that while Saudi Arabia had used the justification of security concerns along its southern border to launch strikes on Hadhramaut, no such reasoning existed for strikes on al-Dhale or advancing on Aden.
Saudi planes were filmed on Wednesday flying over the city of Seyoun in Hadhramaut. A day earlier, unidentified drones were spotted above al-Maashiq presidential palace.
The STC advocates for an independent state in southern Yemen, roughly along the same lines as South Yemen - which was a Marxist-Leninist state that existed from 1967 until Yemeni unification in 1990.
The separatists have for years been backed by the UAE, including through diplomatic support, as well as financial and military aid.
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".