By Timour Azhari and Maha El Dahan
Mukalla, YEMEN, Jan 19 (Reuters) – The Saudi-backed Yemeni government accused the United Arab Emirates on Monday of running a secret prison at an airbase near the south Yemeni port city of Mukalla, fueling tensions in a deepening row between the two Gulf oil states.
The allegations were made by Salem Al-Khanbashi, the governor of the eastern Yemeni province of Hadramout, during a rare media trip arranged by the Saudi government which flew international journalists including a Reuters team from Riyadh to the Riyan airbase near the Yemeni city of Mukalla.
Al-Khanbashi told a televised press conference that necessary measures would be taken against the UAE and the head of Yemen’s main separatist group, the STC, who the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen alleged had been spirited out of Yemen by the UAE.
“All the measures will be taken to hold perpetrators of violations accountable, either Aidarous al-Zubaidi or the UAE – its elements, officials, or people working for them… to achieve justice for the victims and their families.”
There was no immediate comment by the UAE foreign ministry.
The STC is fully committed to human rights and justice, an official of the group told Reuters in response to the accusation that the UAE-backed group had run a secret prison.
“We have continuously engaged constructively with U.N. and other human rights bodies to ensure the rights and protection of the Southern (Yemeni) people,” he added.
Khanbashi’s remarks are among the most severe accusations levied against the UAE in a war of words with Saudi Arabia. The dispute broke into the open last year when UAE-backed STC fighters pushed Saudi-backed forces aligned with the internationally-recognized Yemeni government out of key provinces.
Then, in late December, Saudi Arabia struck what it said was an Emirati shipment of weapons and equipment destined for the STC in the port of Mukalla, before backing an offensive that saw the STC collapse and the UAE withdraw after nearly a decade as the main force on the ground in Yemen.
Disagreements between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi span the region, where they back opposing sides in conflicts from Sudan to Somalia and Syria. They are also engaged in fierce economic competition, including over who can attract more foreign capital and visitors and take the biggest share of the global AI boom.
Over the past weeks, Saudi and Emirati pundits have traded attacks on social media in an unusually open display of discord. The Gulf monarchies have in the past kept their disagreements out of the public eye, partially in an effort to show a united front against their main common foe, Iran.
A post on X on Saudi state-run Ekhbariya TV on Sunday read: “With Abu Dhabi inciting against Saudi Arabia … the kingdom will not hesitate to take the necessary steps and measures against it.”
The Yemeni government has previously alleged that the UAE was running secret prisons in several areas under its control in Yemen, allegations the UAE has denied.
(Reporting by Timour Azhari; additional reporting by Maha ElDahan in Dubai, Editing by Toby Chopra, William Maclean)
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