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3. Yemen Separatist Chief Calls for Protests in First Message Since Disappearance

The UAE-backed leader of a Yemeni separatist movement on Thursday called for protests in Aden in a message to a TV channel, his first public statement since his disappearance over a week ago.

Aidarous Al-Zubaidi, the leader of the Emirati-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), called for "the people of South Arabia to rally in the capital Aden on Friday", pro-separatist Aden Independent Channel posted on X.

Zubaidi has been accused in Yemen of high treason and was removed from the country's Presidential Leadership Council, which helms the country's internationally recognised government.

He fled ahead of talks in Riyadh following a swift defeat of his group by pro-Saudi forces earlier in January, and his whereabouts remain contested.

The STC leader also called for demonstrators to support a declaration for an independent state made by the separatists in January and demand the release of the movement's members in Saudi Arabia, the channel reported.

The STC has sought to recreate the state of South Yemen, which existed from 1967 to 1990.

Saudi officials say Zubaidi fled to the United Arab Emirates after his forces were driven from territories seized last month in Yemen's south.

STC officials insist he is still in Yemen.

The oil-rich UAE and Saudi Arabia formed the backbone of the coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, who overran the capital Sanaa in 2014 and still control much of the country.

But a December offensive by STC forces brought fresh turbulence to fractured Yemen and exposed deep rifts between Gulf allies Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The UAE-backed forces' advance into Hadramawt and Mahra provinces, bordering Saudi Arabia and Oman, was pushed back by air strikes from Saudi jets and a counter-offensive by pro-Saudi forces on the ground.

The government, previously split between UAE and Saudi-backed figures, has undergone a purge, with UAE-aligned ministers dismissed and a declaration issued that all southern factions would unite under Saudi command.

AFP