Yemen separatists lose contact with delegates in Riyadh

A separatist group in Yemen’s south said it was urgently trying to contact its delegation heading to the Saudi capital to ease tensions between rival forces on the ground.

The Southern Transitional Council, the most powerful group in Yemen’s south, said a 50-member delegation arrived in Riyadh on Wednesday morning.

One member sent a message to X, but the delegation subsequently fell silent, their phones switched off and their whereabouts unknown.

The announcement came after Yemen’s internationally recognized government said it had deported the leader of the Saudi-backed leadership group, the STC.

The Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) said the STC leader was charged with treason after he refused to travel to Saudi Arabia for talks.

Recent tensions reveal the fragile nature of the concentration of forces, including separatists fighting Houthi rebels based in northern Yemen.

A notable dispute is between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which supports the STC.

Saudi Arabia launched new airstrikes against separatists on Wednesday.

“We went to Riyadh to talk. What we got was bombing,” STC representative Amr al-Bidh told reporters.

“This is unfair and unfortunate.”

The Saudi foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The avowed goal of the coalition fighting the pro-Iranian Houthis in Yemen’s decade-long civil war has been to restore the internationally recognized government that the Houthis have long driven from the north.

But tensions between the groups have risen, threatening to drag them into direct conflict and further tear apart the Arab world’s poorest country.

The separatist STC is seeking an independent country in southern Yemen, which it sees as a violation of Saudi Arabia’s interests.

Last week, separatists declared a constitution for an independent country and demanded that other groups accept this decision.