Saudi Arabia alleged on Thursday that the United Arab Emirates smuggled a separatist leader in Yemen wanted for treason out of the country and flew him to Abu Dhabi.

The UAE had no immediate reaction to the claim, which further escalates tensions between the neighboring nations on the Arabian Peninsula as their partnership in the years-long war in Yemen breaks down.

A Saudi military statement claimed Aidarous al-Zubaidi, the leader of the Southern Transitional Council, fled Yemen by boat to Somalia.

Then, UAE officials flew al-Zubaidi to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the Emirates, the statement said.

The UAE has been the major supporter of the council, known as the STC, which sparked a confrontation between Saudi Arabia and the Emirates in recent days after STC fighters advanced in two governorates and appeared to be preparing to secede from Yemen.

The Emirati Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

The STC did not immediately acknowledge the allegation either, saying Wednesday that al-Zubaidi had remained in Aden, where forces allied against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels had congregated for years since the rebels seized Yemen's capital, Sanaa.

Saudi ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed al-Jaber, said on X Thursday morning that he met with the STC delegation that landed in Riyadh a day earlier.

They discussed al-Zubaidi's recent actions, which he said "harmed the southern cause and didn't serve it".

Southern Yemen had been run under the Presidential Leadership Council, a group including al-Zubaidi and others, since 2022.

On Wednesday, the leadership council expelled al-Zubaidi and charged him with treason after he apparently declined to fly to Saudi Arabia for talks.

It marked the latest pushback against the STC by Saudi Arabia, which also recently launched airstrikes against the group and an arms shipment the kingdom said came from the UAE.

The war in Yemen, on the southern edge of the Arabian Peninsula and bordering the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians.

It has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.

The Houthis have also launched attacks against shipping over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, disrupting a vital route for global commerce. (AP)