U.S. still in limbo on Saleh's visa

WASHINGTON, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- The U.S. State Department is reviewing a request by Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to enter the country for medical treatment, a spokesman said.

Saleh agreed to sign a deal brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council that outlines his resignation in return for immunity from prosecution. He spent much of the summer at a military hospital in Saudi Arabia after an assassination attempt in June.

In late November, the official Saba new agency in Yemen reported Saleh was headed to the United States for medical treatment after he signed the GCC deal.

U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Washington was reviewing Saleh's request to enter the United States "for the sole purpose of seeking medical treatment."

"Only at the end of this internal review process will a final visa adjudication be made," Toner said. "The Department of State will confirm that a decision has been reached only after this process has been completed."

The French government said it condemned ongoing violence that left at least 14 dead and hundreds more injured during weekend fighting in Sanaa, the independent Yemen Post reports.

Paris, the report adds, threatened to sanction officials found responsible for undermining the transition process in Yemen.