Yemen's President Returns Amid Violence

A TV grab shows Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh delivering a televised speech from Riyadh on August 16.

Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh unexpectedly returned to Yemen today after spending three months in Saudi Arabia recovering from a bomb attack.

Media reports said Saleh arrived at a military airport in the capital, Sanaa, early today.

The Al-Arabiyah television channel said he is to head a meeting of the ruling party later today.

Saleh, who has been in power for more than 30 years, has faced eight months of protests demanding his ouster.

He traveled to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment after he was injured in an attack on the presidential palace in Sanaa in early June.

Violence in Yemen has escalated in recent days, with dozens of people killed in clashes between government troops and forces opposed to Saleh's rule.

Several more deaths were reported in the clashes today in Sanaa.

compiled from agency reports