Somalia's immigration and citizenship agency said on Thursday that it had launched an investigation after the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen accused the United Arab Emirates of spiriting a separatist leader out of the country via Mogadishu airport.

The Saudi-led coalition said that Aidarous al-Zubaidi, head of a UAE-backed southern separatist group, had left Yemen by boat for Somaliland, before boarding an aircraft to Mogadishu that was later tracked to a military airport in Abu Dhabi.

Somalia said it was investigating whether its airport had been used illegally.