WASHINGTON — Obama administration officials said Tuesday that Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh was more badly injured than thought in a blast at his compound last week, complicating the U.S. response to increased instability in a key battleground in the war against al-Qaeda.
Saleh is receiving treatment in Saudi Arabia for burns covering some 40 percent of his body, three U.S. officials said. Yemen’s leader also is suffering from bleeding inside his skull, the officials said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. TIME’s Complete Coverage: The Middle East in Revolt
One current and one former U.S. official also said Saleh had additional, significant injuries to his upper body. Those officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, also said U.S. officials think the injuries were caused by a bomb inside his compound in the Yemeni capital, not a rocket attack from outside the compound walls. That conflicts with initial reports of the attack.
The United States initially believed that Saleh escaped the Friday attack unscathed, though officials later amended their assessment to say he had suffered slight wounds.
Saleh underwent surgery on Monday to remove shards of wood from his chest and treat heavy burns on his face and chest from the attack, which killed 11 bodyguards and seriously wounded five other senior officials.
It is not known when the leader of 33 years planned to return to Yemen, but a top official said he would return home within days. The United States opposes his return.
A return by Saleh would likely spark new, intensified fighting between his forces and opposition tribesmen determined to topple him. Both sides’ fighters are deployed in the streets of the capital, and a cease-fire brokered by Saudi Arabia only a day earlier was already starting to fray, with clashes killing at least six over the past 24 hours.
The information on his condition was circulating in Washington as the U.S. continued to press him to step down after more than three decades in power, so that a transition process can end months of political unrest. The U.S. also fears the dangerous al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula offshoot could take advantage of the chaos to expand its power in one of the Arab world’s poorest countries.
Associated Press writers Kimberly Dozier and Ahmed al-Haj contributed to this story.
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