Update From Yemen: President wounded in rocket strike

Tribal leader Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar  is surrounded by bodyguards as he walks in his house

A Yemeni government official tells the Associated Press news agency that President Saleh has been moved to a hospital for treatment for wounds obtained in shelling attack on the presidential palace in capital Sanaa.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to comment to the press, did not say why Saleh was taken to the Defense Ministry hospital, AP reported.

Yemen: Attack on president keeps observers guessing

 

By Brian Whitaker 

I started this morning planning to write a general blog about Yemen, but events took a dramatic turn this afternoon – and are still developing. Let's start with the official version. The presidential palace in Yemen was hit by shells on Friday. Government sources said at first that President Saleh was unhurt and would be giving a news conference within an hour.

The news conference didn't happen and the new line seems to be that the president has been slightly injured and is now in hospital.

At present, there is no way of knowing if this is true. Being taken to hospital could explain why Saleh hasn't given the promised news conference. So would being killed. We can't be absolutely sure that Saleh is still alive until he is seen on television talking about what happened.