Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh left for Saudi Arabia on Sunday to get medical treatment, and has transferred presidential responsibilities to his deputy Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, a government official and local media said, Xinhua reported.
According to Deputy Information Minister Abdu al-Janadi and the media reports, Saleh and his family members were sent to the capital of the the neighboring oil-rich country after the president was hurt by shells after gunmen belonging to opposition tribal leader Sadiq al-Ahamr fired gunshots at the presidential palace on Friday.
Seven of Saleh's bodyguards were killed and several other officials were also wounded.On Saturday, a secretary of Saleh had denied that the president went to Saudi Arabia for treatment, but told Xinhua that five senior officials who also suffered serious injuries in the attack, incuding Prime Minister Ali Mujawar, deputy Prime Minister Rashid al-Alami and Parliament's speaker Yahya al-Raiee had already arrived in the kingdom.