Yemeni President Travels To Oman

Tehran, Jan 23, IRNA - Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh left the Yemeni capital Sana'a on Sunday for neighbouring Oman from where he will go to the United States for treatment. Saleh's departure from Yemen to Oman took place hours after making a farewell speech requesting the Yemeni people to forgive him. 'Saleh will stay for few days in Oman before going to US,' Abdulhafiz al-Nahari, spokesman for Saleh's General People's Congress (GPC) party said in a press conference on Sunday. According to Nahari, Saleh's visit to the US is for medical purposes and it is not an official visit,' Nahari said. In a farewell speech broadcast from Yemen's national television, Saleh said he will head to the United States for medical treatment and asked for forgiveness from Yemeni people. 'I will go to the United States for treatment and will then return as head of the GPC party. I ask for forgiveness from all my people, men and women, for any shortcomings during my 33-year-long rule,' Saleh said. Diplomats in Sana'a said that Saleh's eldest son Ahmed who commands the feared Republican Guard was in Oman to prepare for arrival of his father to that country. The White House and the US State Department declined to comment on Sunday./end