Yemen anti-Houthi council expels separatist leader and says he faces treason charges

A council fighting against Yemen’s Houthi rebels said Wednesday 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.

CAIRO — A council fighting against Yemen’s Houthi rebels said 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 SABA news agency controlled by anti-Houthi forces is the latest escalation between Saudi-backed forces and the Southern Transitional Council, which had been backed by the United Arab Emirates. It also further complicates the future of Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country riven by one of the Middle East’s worst conflicts for over a decade.

The STC said leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi remained in Aden. It also accused Saudi Arabia of launching airstrikes in Yemen’s al-Dhale governorate, 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 statement from SABA 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.”