Abdu Rabu Mansoor Hadi, who has been acting president since June 3 when Saleh was rushed to Riyadh after an attack on the presidential palace, said in an interview with CNN Wednesday that a piece of wood had pierced Saleh's chest and he had suffered burns to his face, arms and upper body.
Hadi said Saleh was due to give an address to the nation, but other reports later said Saleh was too ill to be filmed.
He denied that Saleh, who has faced more than four months of anti-government protests, was now part of the problem. Hadi claimed the president still had 3 million supporters.
The population of Yemen is estimated at 24 million.
The acting president also gave an account of how Yemeni forces were assisting US authorities against local elements of the terrorist group al-Qaeda, which has a growing presence in the country.
The United States often identifies targets using voice recognition on intercepted phone conversations and then passes that information to Yemeni authorities to carry out the attacks, he told CNN.
The acting president underlined his own power, saying he had authority to sign a UN-sponsored peace proposal, which would see Saleh keep the presidency until new elections.
Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis have taken to the streets to call for the current regime's ouster, a transitional government and fresh elections.
A lethal government crackdown on the nationwide protests has killed more than 350 civilians, according to medics and human rights groups.
The US has called for an orderly transition of power.
source : http://abna.ir/
