Yemeni President to deliver speech in 48 hours

SANAA, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh will deliver a speech within 48 hours, a senior official told Xinhua on Sunday.

Saleh, who is being treated in a military hospital in the Saudi capital of Riyadh for injuries he sustained in a blast attack on his presidential palace on June 3, is due to show up in the next two days, Ahmed al-Sufi, the information advisor of Saleh said.

"I can confirm that President Saleh will speak to the nation in 48 hours," al-Sufi said.

The official refused to reveal whether Saleh would make the speech in Sanaa or in Riyadh.

Meanwhile, an official of the president office told Xinhua that Saleh's speech might be related to the Gulf Cooperation Council ( GCC) deal, which stipulated that Saleh should leave office within a month after he signs the deal in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

The deal was suspended by the GCC leaders on May 22 after Saleh refused to sign it for the third time.

Saleh, 69, was wounded along with other government officials in the bomb attack that hit the mosque of the presidential palace in Sanaa on June 3. They were hospitalized in Riyadh for treatment the day after.

Yemen has witnessed five months of anti-government protests calling for ousting Saleh.