The Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen said Head of Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC) Aidrous Al-Zubaidi, left for Somaliland by boat and then boarded an aircraft to Somalia's Mogadishu that landed at a military airport in Abu Dhabi.
"Reliable intelligence indicates that Aidrous Al-Zubaidi and others have escaped in the dead of night," a statement from the Coalition said early on Thursday, detailing a boat-and-plane journey from Aden to Abu Dhabi via Somaliland and Somalia.
The plane that took him to Mogadishu from Somaliland "under the supervision of UAE officers" waited for an hour before flying to a military airport in Abu Dhabi, the Coalition said.
The Coalition statement from Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki said an Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft used in the operation had been used in “conflict zones” like Ethiopia, Libya and Somalia.
The statement came a day after Al-Zubaidi was expelled from Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) for high treason.
In a decree, PLC Chairman Dr. Rashad Al-Alimi on Wednesday referred Al-Zubaidi to the general prosecutor for committing high treason and harming the unity and security of the state.
