Report: Saleh to return to Yemen July 17

SANAA, Yemen, July 9 (UPI) -- Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, wounded in a June 3 attack, plans to return from Saudi Arabia to Yemen July 17, sources told al-Arabiya Saturday.

A senior leader of the ruling General People's Congress Party who requested anonymity told al-Arabiya Saleh will return on the date marking the end of his 33rd year in power to announce his intention to hold onto the presidency until September 2013.

Saleh appeared on Yemeni television Thursday, offering to share power in a bid to remain in office.

"We are not against participation, we are for participation with all political powers, whether they are in opposition or ruling, but in the light of a program which the people agree upon," Saleh said in the recorded television appearance.

Saleh, 69, flew to Saudi Arabia to receive medical treatment for serious wounds sustained during an assassination attempt at his presidential compound June 3. The source said Saleh will be accompanied by a Saudi medical team to aid his recovery in Sanaa.