Yemen Monitor/ Newsroom:
The Governor of Hadramawt and member of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, Salem Ahmed al-Khanbashi, emphasized that local authorities will no longer tolerate the raising of photos of the head of the dissolved Southern Transitional Council (STC), Aidarous al-Zubaidi, in the governorate, noting that al-Zubaidi is an accused individual referred to the judiciary.
During his chairmanship of the Executive Office meeting for the Hadramawt coast in the city of Mukalla, al-Khanbashi added that any violation of these instructions would force the authorities to close the STC headquarters in Hadramawt without hesitation.
He explained that security services recently arrested elements of the STC who participated in organizing demonstrations within the governorate, where investigations revealed they received sums of money exceeding five thousand dollars. The Governor affirmed that security agencies will continue to take all necessary measures to ensure the stability and safety of Hadramawt and protect citizens from any acts that might threaten public security.
The Presidential Leadership Council had issued a decree on January 7th stripping al-Zubaidi of his membership in the Council, accusing him of high treason and other serious crimes, including forming an armed gang, killing officers and soldiers, and undermining the country’s sovereignty.
At the same time, the Council authorized the Attorney General’s Office to form a special committee to investigate the allegations against him, granting it powers to summon individuals, arrest them, collect evidence, and take necessary legal actions, while tasking it with completing the investigation quickly and submitting periodic reports to the Leadership Council.
The committee’s preliminary findings identified a series of grave charges against al-Zubaidi, who is described as responsible for multiple violations that “contributed to creating a state of political and popular division in the southern governorates.”
Al-Zubaidi serves as the president of the Southern Transitional Council (which was later dissolved). He was supposed to attend talks in Riyadh on January 7th with a delegation of 50 STC members, but he fled at the last moment instead.
