CAIRO (AP) — Yemen's Southern Transitional Council and its institutions will be dismantled effective today, the group's secretary general said Friday, after weeks of unrest in southern areas and only a day after its leader fled to the United Arab Emirates.
Abdulrahman Jalal al-Sebaihi made the announcement Friday in a televised address broadcast on Yemen TV.
The decision comes a day after the Council’s leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi fled Yemen by boat to Somalia and was later flown to Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s capital. Al-Zubaidi has been accused of treason.
The UAE has been a major backer of the council, which sparked a confrontation with Saudi Arabia in recent days, after STC fighters advanced in Hadramout and al-Mahra governorates and appeared to be preparing to secede from Yemen.