Yemeni officials deny president is being treated for injuries in Saudi Arabia

Authorities insist Ali Abdullah Saleh is still in Sana’a with minor head wounds from an attack on his compound Yemeni officials have denied reports that President Ali Abdullah Saleh has travelled to Saudi Arabia to receive treatment for a wound sustained in an attack on his compound . Al Arabiya reported that the president was taken to a Saudi hospital with six other Yemeni politicians who were injured in the strike. But Yemen’s state TV said though the prime minister and the speakers of both houses of parliament had travelled, the president had not. “Saleh is still in Sana’a,” a Yemeni official told Reuters. “He had suffered minor wounds to his head and, I believe, his face.” Any departure by Saleh could make it extremely difficult to him to return to Yemen, where he is fighting a four-month uprising that has brought the country to the brink of civil war. Hisham Sharaf, minister of trade and industry, said he met Saleh on Friday night and that the president remained defiant in the face of escalating violence. “He was in very high morale,” said Sharaf. “The strike that doesn’t break you makes you stronger. The strike made him more adamant that he won’t hand over the country until he is sure it will be safe and clear of militias.” He said he spoke with Saleh at a military hospital on Friday night where he was treated for minor wounds before returning to the presidential palace. But a senior official in the president’s office said Saleh remains in the military hospital. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the press. Presidential spokesman Ahmed al-Sufi declined to comment. He accused the United States of orchestrating the attack on Saleh, saying all signs pointed to American involvement “because of the precision and the timing”. Tribal and medical officials said, meanwhile, that 10 tribesmen were killed and 35 injured in overnight fighting in the Hassaba neighborhood, headquarters of opposition Sheik Sadeq al-Ahmar. A tribal leader said street fighting had lasted until dawn. Many of the compound’s buildings and surrounding houses have already been heavily damaged by days of bombardment. Government and rebel forces exchanged rocket fire, damaging a contested police station. The rockets rained down on streets housing government buildings that had been taken over by tribesmen. Since violence erupted in the city on 23 May, residents have been hiding in basements as the two sides fight for control of government ministries and hammer one another in artillery duels and gun battles, rattling neighborhoods and sending palls of smoke over the city. Seven guards were killed in the rebel strike on the mosque in the presidential palace compound where Saleh and the other officials were at prayer. The news agency said the prime minister, a deputy prime minister, the president’s top security adviser, and the two heads of parliament were sent to Saudi Arabia by air in the early hours of Saturday. The security officer was reportedly in serious condition. Inspired by uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, protesters have been trying unsuccessfully since February to oust Saleh with a wave of peaceful protests that have brought out hundreds of thousands daily in Sana’a and other cities. Now the crisis has transformed into a power struggle between two of Yemen’s most powerful families: Saleh’s, which dominates the security forces, and the al-Ahmar clan, which leads Yemen’s strongest tribal confederation, known as the Hashid. The confederation is grouped around 10 tribes across the north. Yemen Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Saudi Arabia guardian.co.uk

Posted by on June 4, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.