U.S. won't tell Yemen's Saleh where to go

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Washington has no plans to dictate travel plans for Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, though his visa application wasn't withdrawn, an official said.

After signing a transition deal brokered last year by the Gulf Cooperation Council, the official Saba news agency in Yemen reported that Saleh was headed to the United States for medical treatment.

The GCC deal outlines Saleh's eventual resignation in return for immunity from prosecution. Saleh spent much of the summer at a military hospital in Saudi Arabia after an assassination attempt in June.

The independent Yemen Post reports that Saleh isn't leaving the country so he can help with his vice president's election campaign.

"President Saleh will not leave Yemen to any country, including America for treatment," Information Minister Abdu al-Janadi was quoted as saying.

Victoria Nuland, a spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, said the government hasn't made any formal decision on Saleh's visa application. Washington, she said, won't dictate his travel plans but he needs to get out of the way.

"Our view is that President Saleh needs to step aside and allow the process to go forward as agreed and as he has signed up to, so we want to see the vice president and the opposition continue to work towards a democratic process in Yemen," she said.