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Saudi Coalition Says Separatist Leader Fled Yemen With UAE Help, Advances to Aden
Soldiers gather outside the headquarters of the Southern Transitional Council in Aden, Yemen, Jan. 8, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Fawaz Salman
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said on Thursday that the United Arab Emirates had spirited a separatist leader out of the country by boat in a dramatic twist to a rift between the Gulf powers, as Saudi-backed forces advanced to the port of Aden after losing ground there.
The escape of Aidarous al-Zubaidi, head of a UAE-backed southern separatist group, could exacerbate tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, global oil heavyweights and both close allies of the United States.
The Saudi assertion that the UAE helped him escape raises the stakes in a crisis that erupted last month when the separatists swept through southern Yemen, including Aden, advancing within reach of the border with Saudi Arabia. Riyadh declared the move a threat to its national security.
The Saudi-led coalition said Zubaidi had left Yemen for Somaliland, before boarding an aircraft to Mogadishu that was later tracked to a military airport in Abu Dhabi.
Somalia said it had launched an investigation to determine whether its airports were used to transport a “political fugitive,” referring to Zubaidi. The country’s Immigration and Citizenship Agency said that if this proved to be true, it would constitute a “serious violation” of national sovereignty.
Zubaidi had failed to show up in Riyadh for crisis talks over turmoil in southern Yemen on Wednesday. Zubaidi’s Southern Transitional Council (STC) said he had been asked to go to Saudi Arabia under threat.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE previously worked together in a coalition battling the Iran-backed Houthis, an internationally designated terrorist group, in Yemen‘s civil war, which caused one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
But the two most powerful countries in the Gulf have sharp differences over a wide range of volatile issues across the Middle East – from geopolitics to oil output – and those burst into the open with the STC advance.
BRAZEN ESCAPE
After Zubaidi’s unexplained absence from the Riyadh talks, his group said he was overseeing military and security operations in Aden to prevent a security vacuum there.
Aden had been the main seat of power in Yemen outside Houthi-controlled areas since 2015, but leaders of the Saudi-backed government left the city for Saudi Arabia when the STC took control last month.
On Thursday, a Reuters witness said the situation in Aden appeared stable with Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces patrolling the streets, and no sign of STC forces. Authorities have imposed a nighttime curfew.
The Saudi-backed forces have also been retaking ground in other areas in recent days, after Saudi Arabia pressured the UAE to rein in the separatists.
In a sign that a split may be emerging among the separatists, an STC delegation said it had held fruitful talks in Riyadh with the Saudi ambassador to Yemen, according to comments by Mohammed Al Ghaith, a senior official of the group.
Any such fracture could complicate efforts to stabilize Yemen‘s south.
Any confirmation of Zubaidi’s presence in Abu Dhabi could anger Saudi Arabia. In a statement, the Saudi-led coalition said Zubaidi and others accompanying him on the plane to Mogadishu from Somaliland were under the supervision of UAE officers and waited an hour before flying to a military airport in the UAE capital.
The coalition statement also mentioned by name the UAE officer whose help Zubaidi had sought.
The aircraft was of a type similar to those frequently used in conflict zones on the routes of countries such as Ethiopia, Libya and Somalia, the coalition added.
The plane turned off its identification system over the Gulf of Oman, before turning it back on 10 minutes prior to arrival at Al Reef military airport in Abu Dhabi, the coalition said.
The coalition did not clearly say if Zubaidi was still aboard en route to the UAE capital.
There was no immediate comment from the UAE or Zubaidi’s STC.
UAE‘S ASSERTIVE FOREIGN POLICY
The UAE has pursued an assertive foreign policy and carved out its own sphere of influence across the Middle East and Africa, a strategy thrown into the spotlight after the rare military escalation with Saudi Arabia in Yemen.
It withdrew its remaining forces from Yemen and has called for de-escalation in the country, which is reeling from one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises caused by the civil war.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE first intervened in Yemen after the Houthis seized the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, in 2014.
The UAE joined the Saudi-backed coalition the following year in support of the internationally recognized government.
The STC was set up in 2017 with UAE backing and eventually joined the government coalition.
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UK Man in Court Charged With Arson at Former London Synagogue
Orthodox Jews stand by a police cordon, after a man was arrested following a stabbing incident in the Golders Green area, which is home to a large Jewish population, in London, Britain, April 29, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A British man charged over an arson attack at a former synagogue in east London last week was in contact with someone using an Iraqi phone number shortly before the fire, prosecutors told a London court on Tuesday.
Moses Edwards, 45, appeared in the dock at Westminster Magistrates’ Court and was remanded in custody until a further hearing next month. He gave no indication of any plea.
The fire at the former East London Central Synagogue was caused by wine bottles filled with an accelerant, which exploded damaging the outside of the building, prosecutors said.
The incident followed a series of arson attacks on Jewish targets in previous weeks, with police saying they were investigating possible Iran links to some of the fires.
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Israeli Para-Athlete Wins Gold at European Taekwondo Championships, Beats Opponent From Azerbaijan
Asaf Yasur, center, posing with his gold medal during the awards ceremony at the 2026 European Taekwondo Championships in Munich, Germany. Photo: Facebook/Israel Taekwondo Federation
Israeli Paralympic athlete Asaf Yasur took home the gold medal in the 2026 European Senior Taekwondo Championships being held this week in Munich, Germany.
The 24-year-old competed in the men’s under-58kg weight category, and on the first day of the championships he beat Azerbaijan’s Sabir Zeynalov 2-1 in the finals after being victorious over Turkish athlete Hamza Tehrani 2-1 in the semifinal. Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikvah,” played in the arena during the medal ceremony, as Yasur stood on the podium with his gold medal.
The Jerusalem native had both of his hands amputated when he was 13 years old following an electrocution accident. Earlier this year, Yasur won gold at the 2026 US Open Paralympic Taekwondo Championship. He previously took home gold medals at the 2024 Paris Paralympics — where he made his Paralympics debut – the 2024 European Championships, and the 2023 World Para Taekwondo Championships. He also won the 2021 and 2023 World Para Taekwondo Championships and silver at the 2023 European Para Championships.
The European Taekwondo Union organizes the European Senior Taekwondo Championships, which is held every two years. This year marks the fourth time the championship is taking place in Germany, after previous being held in Bonn in 2006, Stuttgart in 1984, and Munich in 1978.
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China and US Agree on Opposing Hormuz Tolls, State Department Says
Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, Musandam, Oman, May 8, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Stringer
Senior US and Chinese officials agree that no country can be allowed to exact shipping tolls in the Strait of Hormuz, the State Department told Reuters on Tuesday, in a sign that the two countries are trying to find common ground on efforts to pressure Iran to give up control of the vital waterway.
The statement by the State Department comes ahead of a high-stakes summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week, where Iran‘s chokehold on the strait will be on the agenda.
Iran‘s near-complete closure of the vital trade artery since the joint Israeli-US airstrikes on the country on Feb. 28 has sent shockwaves through global energy markets.
The State Department said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the issue in an April phone call.
“They agreed that no country or organization can be allowed to charge tolls to pass through international waterways like the Strait of Hormuz,” department spokesman Tommy Pigott told Reuters in response to questions about the call. The State Department has not previously provided a readout of the call in a break from its usual practice.
China’s embassy did not dispute the US account of the discussion, saying it hoped all sides can work together to resume normal traffic through the strait, which before the war handled one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supply.
“Keeping the area safe and stable and ensuring unimpeded passage serves the common interest of the international community,” embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu told Reuters.
Tehran has demanded a right to collect tolls on shipping traffic as a precondition for ending the war. The US has imposed a naval blockade on Iran, and Trump has floated the possibility of imposing its own fees on traffic or working with Iran to collect tolls. After domestic and international pushback, the White House has since said Trump wants to see the Strait of Hormuz open up for traffic without any limitations.
Chinese officials so far have avoided direct mention of tolls, even while condemning the US blockade.
‘NORMAL AND SAFE PASSAGE’
Two sources briefed on the Wang-Rubio exchange said Rubio had raised the prospect of Chinese vessels paying tolls, which they said appeared aimed at encouraging Beijing to apply more pressure on Tehran to bring the conflict to an end.
China maintains ties with Iran and remains a major consumer of its oil exports. Trump has been leaning on China to use its influence to push Tehran to make a deal with Washington.
In a subsequent meeting with Iran‘s foreign minister, Wang said the international community shared a “common concern about restoring normal and safe passage through the strait” while reiterating that China supports Iran in “safeguarding its national sovereignty and security.”
China vetoed a US-backed resolution in the United Nations last month encouraging states to work together to protect commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, arguing it was biased against Iran. That prompted US ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, to argue that Beijing was tolerating Iran holding the global economy at gunpoint.
Washington together with Bahrain has drawn up another UN resolution demanding Iran halt attacks and mining in the strait, but diplomats say this is also likely to meet with Chinese and Russian vetoes if it comes to a vote.
That resolution also calls for an end to “efforts to exact illegal tolls” in the strait.
China has ordered its companies not to comply with US sanctions against Chinese oil refineries over purchases of Iranian crude, measures intended to isolate and pressure Tehran.