The Saudi-led coalition announced that the chairman of Yemen's Southern Transitional Council, Aydar al-Zubaidi, had fled to an unknown location, Reuters reported.
According to the coalition, al-Zubaidi did not show up for a flight to Riyadh to participate in a forum to discuss a settlement of the conflict in southern Yemen. The whereabouts of the leader of the UAE-backed separatist movement are unknown.
On January 2, Hadramawt Governor Salem al-Hanbashi announced the start of an operation to hand over military camps controlled by the separatists to government forces. On the same day, the Southern Transitional Council announced the beginning of a two-year transitional period, after which it plans to declare an independent state of South Arabia with Aden as its capital.
According to the constitutional declaration, it will be established within the borders of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, which existed from 1967 to 1990.
On Saturday, al-Alimi proposed holding a general conference of political forces in the south of the country in Riyadh to resolve the crisis. The kingdom's Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed this initiative, noting that a comprehensive solution can only be achieved through dialogue.
By the evening of January 3, government forces had regained control of the provinces of Hadramawt and Mahra, expelling the separatists and capturing all strategic objects.