Yemen's president to return 'in days' after attack

YEMEN'S president plans to return home within days after treatment in Saudi Arabia for serious injuries from an attack on his palace, officials said, as hundreds of thousands of his opponents rallied in the streets this weekend to say he would not be welcome back.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh was badly burned in the blast at his palace at the beginning of June, which wounded other members of his senior leadership and killed at least 11 guards.

In his absence, Yemen's opposition parties have sought to persuade the ruling party to join them in a transitional leadership that would effectively shut out Saleh, who has resisted tremendous pressure at home and abroad to step down.

But loyalists have insisted the president will return and resume his duties, and Saleh's powerful son Ahmed, who commands some of the country's best-trained military forces, has remained in Yemen to help maintain his father's hold.

Ruling party official Yasser al-Yamani said plans to welcome back the embattled leader are under way. "He will return home after medical reports said he is getting better," he said.

A statement quoting a presidential official said Saleh will return "in days".

Officials in Saudi Arabia said Saleh was completing his treatment and has been able to carry out a few simple physical exercises. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said Saleh intends to return home.

Much is at stake in Yemen's political turmoil, which began with anti-government protests in February. The country is the poorest in the Arab world, suffers numerous internal conflicts and is a potential source of instability for neighbouring Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich parts of the Arabian peninsula.

For the US and Europe, the main concern is the al-Qaeda offshoot that has found refuge in Yemen's mountainous hinterlands and has been behind several nearly successful strikes on US targets.

The months of protests in Yemen were inspired by successful uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. Crowds took to the streets to demand that the autocratic leader step down after nearly 33 years in power.

The largely peaceful movement gave way to heavy street fighting when tribal militias took up arms in late May. The tribal leader in control of those fighters warned Saleh not to return.