Yemeni PM leaves Saudi hospital, Saleh still under treatment

In this file image taken from a prerecorded video and broadcast July 7, 2011 on Yemen state TV from Saudi Arabia, Yemen's embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh makes his first public appearance since he was injured in a blast at his palace compound in June, 2011.

Yemeni Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Mujawar, who was injured in a bomb attack on June 3 along with President Ali Abdullah Saleh and many other officials, left the Saudi hospital on Saturday and is expected to stay in Riyadh for recuperation, while Saleh will remain in the hospital until he finishes treatment, a Yemeni government official told Xinhua.

“Prime Minister Mujawar, who was wounded along with President Saleh and other officials during the June 3 attack that targeted the presidential palace in Sanaa, left the Saudi hospital on Saturday for a Saudi government accommodation where he will stay for recuperation,” Mr. Saleh’s press secretary Ahmed al-Soufi told Xinhua.

“I have also phoned the Yemeni government officials accompanying President Saleh in the Saudi military hospital in Riyadh and they confirmed to me that President Saleh will remain in the hospital until he finishes his treatment,” al-Soufi added.

“There is no confirmation that President Saleh will leave the hospital very soon,” al-Soufi said.

The embattled president and other 87 high-ranking officials were hospitalized in Riyadh a day after the attack that left 12 of Mr. Saleh’s bodyguards and a government official dead.

The attack took place a few days after pitched street battles between Mr. Saleh’s forces and the opposition-backed armed tribesmen flared up in Sanaa, which claimed lives of some 300 people from the two sides, according to the statements from both government and opposition.

The battles ended with a Saudi-brokered truce deal following Mr. Saleh’s departure to Riyadh.

However, the Yemeni government forces and opposition-led armed tribesmen sporadically exchanged fire on Friday in Hassaba district in downtown Sanaa, breaking the two-month-old truce, according to residents and security officials.

Mr. Saleh, who has faced protests demanding an immediate end to his 33-year rule for seven months, vowed to return to power to lead a national conciliation dialogue with his opponents soon.

A close aide to the veteran president told Xinhua last week that “doctors treating Saleh’s injuries in the Saudi hospital could allow him to come back to Sanaa by the end of first week of August to resume his presidential duties.”