SANAA, Yemen, June 5 (UPI) -- Two days of speculation ended Sunday when officials in Yemen acknowledged President Ali Abdullah Saleh was injured in a mortar attack in Sanaa.
An anti-government attack on Saleh's compound Friday killed at least 10 people and wounded at least 35 others. Initial reports said Saleh and several senior aides were airlifted to neighboring Saudi Arabia for treatment, which the state news agency denied.
However, ruling party spokesman Tareq Shami told CNN Saleh was being treated for injuries in Riyadh and would "be back in Yemen soon."
The Gulf News agency reported Saleh had deep shrapnel wounds to the chest and burns on his hands.
Saleh has been in power for 32 years in the impoverished Arabic state and is caught up in a wave of reformist revolutions in predominantly Muslim North African and Arabic countries that began in Tunisia early this year.
Opposition parties told Gulf News Saleh's trip to Saudi Arabia for treatment constituted an abrogation of power and was a "face-saving" measure.
