File Photo: Former Member of the Yemeni presidential body Faraj Salmin Al-Bahsani. Photo courtesy of Saba news agency.
In December, forces from the Southern Transitional Council briefly captured two key provinces, infuriating Saudi Arabia, which rolled back its land grab with air strikes and allies on the ground.
"It was decided to terminate the membership of Faraj Salmeen Al-Bahsani in the Presidential Leadership Council," the body said in an official resolution.
Bahsani is a vice president of the STC who has been getting treatment in the United Arab Emirates and was the governor of oil-rich Hadramawt province, Yemen's largest and one of the two provinces the separatists had seized.
Earlier this month, STC leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi, who was also a PLC member, was sacked after he was accused of "high treason".
The resolution dismissing Bahsani cited a series of reasons, including his support for Zubaidi and the STC's takeover, as well as statements that he gave.
On Sunday, Bahsani gave an interview to AFP during which he said southern forces, including separatists, would not agree to unite as announced the day before by the PLC chairman.
He also urged Saudi Arabia, which is hosting talks for Yemen's southern factions, to allow participants to hold the meeting outside the kingdom.
Last week, a high-level separatist delegation dissolved the group from Riyadh, where they went for talks, a decision the STC says was made under duress.
Later on Thursday, the PLC appointed two figures to replace Zubaidi and Bahsani.
Lieutenant General Mahmoud Al-Subaihi is a former defence minister and a security and defence adviser to PLC chairman Rashad al-Alimi.
Salem al-Khanbashi is the governor of Hadramawt.
Yemen's internationally recognised government is a patchwork of groups held together by their opposition to the Houthis, who ousted them from the capital Sanaa in 2014 and now rule much of the country's north.
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