By MOHAMMED GHOBARI AND MOHAMMED MUKHASHAF | REUTERS
SANAA/ADEN: Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh appeared on television on Thursday for the first time since an assassination attempt a month ago and said he was ready to share power within the constitution’s framework.
Saleh, who is being treated in a Riyadh hospital after the June 3 attack, was barely recognizable and sat stiffly as he spoke in the pre-recorded statement broadcast on Yemeni television.
He said he had undergone “more than eight successful operations from the burns sustained in the accident” and called for dialogue.
“Where are the men who fear God? Why don’t they stand with dialogue and with reaching satisfactory solutions” for all Yemenis? asked the veteran president, who has been the target of anti-regime protests since January.
Saleh welcomed power sharing. “We welcome the sharing within the framework of the constitution and in the framework of the law.”
Saleh thanked Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who has come under domestic and international pressure to assume power during the president’s absence, “for his efforts in bridging gaps between all political parties” in Yemen.
The speech lasted only a few minutes and was followed by footage of fireworks lighting up the sky in Sanaa.
