Profile: Ali Abdullah Saleh

SANAA, Yemen — Thousands of protesters are dancing and singing in the Yemeni capital Sanaa after the country's authoritarian leader flew to Saudi Arabia to receive medical treatment for wounds he suffered in a rocket attack on his compound.

Anti-government protestors shout slogans during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, June 4, 2011. Five top members of the government were sent to Saudi Arabia for treatment of wounds they suffered in a rebel rocket attack on the presidential palace, the official government news agency reported Saturday. President Ali Abdullah Saleh was slightly injured.

Anti-government protestors shout slogans during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, June 4, 2011. Five top members of the government were sent to Saudi Arabia for treatment of wounds they suffered in a rebel rocket attack on the presidential palace, the official government news agency reported Saturday. President Ali Abdullah Saleh was slightly injured. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

Anti-government protestors shout slogans during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, June 4, 2011. Five top members of the government were sent to Saudi Arabia for treatment of wounds they suffered in a rebel rocket attack on the presidential palace, the official government news agency reported Saturday. President Ali Abdullah Saleh was slightly injured.

The protesters slaughtered three cows Sunday to celebrate President Ali Abdullah Saleh's departure. They danced and sang patriotic songs, with many in the jubilant crowd waving Yemeni flags, joyfully whistling and flashing the "V" for victory signs.

The protesters have been camping out since February to call for the ouster of Saleh, Yemen's leader of nearly 33 years.

Vice-President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi met Sunday with the U.S. Ambassador, the strongest indication yet that he is in charge.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

SANAA, Yemen (AP) -- Yemen's embattled president flew to Saudi Arabia for urgent medical care on Sunday after he was wounded by a rocket attack on his compound, raising the specter of a violent power grab in this impoverished country shaken by months of protests calling for his ouster. It was not immediately clear who was in charge.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who ruled Yemen for nearly 33 years, had clung to power since the uprising against his rule began in mid-February. But at home and abroad, forces were rising steadily against him, culminating in the rocket strike on the mosque in his compound.

A Yemeni official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information, said Saleh left with his two wives and some of his children. The official said he and others learned about Saleh's plans only after the president left. A Saudi medical official said his condition was "not good."

Saleh's government responded with brutality to the daily peaceful protests, at times shooting live ammunition into crowds of demonstrators.

The conflict turned decidedly more violent over the past two weeks when formal tribal allies of Saleh turned against him and transformed the streets of the capital Sanaa into a war zone. Other forces rose against Saleh at the same time. There were high-level defections within his military, and Islamist fighters took over at least one town in the south in the past two weeks.

Saleh was also under intense pressure to step down from his powerful Gulf neighbors, who control a large share of the world's oil resources, and from longtime ally Washington. They all fear Yemen could be headed toward a failed state that will become a fertile ground for al-Qaida's most active franchise to operate and launch attacks abroad.

Officials said Yemen's constitution calls for the vice president, Abed-Rabbo Mansour Hadi, to take over in the absence of the president. U.S. officials said they could not confirm that power had been transferred to the vice president.

Saleh has been widely believed to be grooming his son, Ahmed, as a successor. Ahmed was believed to have stayed behind in an apparent bid to keep control, raising concern the country could be pitted into a violent power struggle.

Yemen's crisis had transformed in recent weeks from a peaceful uprising to a struggle between two of Yemen's most powerful families -- Saleh's, which dominates the security forces, and the al-Ahmar clan, which leads Yemen's strongest tribal confederation. The confederation groups around 10 northern tribes.

Al-Ahmar announced the Hashid's support for the protest movement in March, and his fighters adhered to the movement's nonviolence policy. But last week, Saleh's forces moved against al-Ahmar's fortress-like residence in Sanaa, and the tribe's fighters rose up in fury. They fought pitched battles that engulfed the Sanaa in violence.

The battles reached a crescendo Friday when a rocket slammed into the mosque in the presidential compound during a prayer service, killing 11 bodyguards and seriously injuring five top officials who were worshipping along with Saleh. The five officials wounded were taken to neighboring Saudi Arabia for care.

The president delivered an audio address hours after the attack, his voice labored, with only an old photo shown. His failure to appear in public despite repeated promises raised speculation that his injuries were more severe than acknowledged.

Worried their peaceful movement was being co-opted by the tribal forces, protesters in Taiz and Sanaa issued a joint statement demanding the formation of a transitional council comprising civilians "whose hands are not stained with blood."

After news spread that Saleh had left the country, an activist and a witness said military forces in the southern port city of Aden had withdrawn from checkpoints. Elsewhere in the south, armed gunmen stormed buildings in Taiz, prompting protesters to form committees to try to keep the peace.

Saleh's departure likely means his rule is over, said Christopher Boucek, a Yemen expert with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

"I'd hate to rule anything out for President Saleh," Boucek said, noting that Saleh is a proven political survivor who has often beat overwhelming odds. "But I can't see how he can come back and still be president."

Saleh arrived in Saudi Arabia around 1 a.m. and was immediately taken to a nearby military hospital, according to a Saudi medical official, who described the president's condition as "not good." The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters, did not elaborate.

Sheik Mohammed Nagi al-Shayef, a tribal ally, said he met the president Saturday evening at the Defense Ministry compound in the capital.

"He suffered burns, but they were not serious. He was burned on both hands, his face and head," al-Shayef told The Associated Press. He said Saleh also was hit by jagged pieces of wood that splintered from the mosque pulpit. About 200 people were in the mosque when the rocket struck, he said.

Friday's rocket attack was the first direct strike against Saleh in nearly four months of protests. The fighting between rebellious tribesmen and government forces has left more than 130 people dead over the last two weeks.

Even before the uprising began, Yemen was already the poorest Arab country in the Middle East and the government's authority did not extend far outside the capital. It faced opposition from rebellious Shiites in the north on the border with Saudi Arabia and a secessionist revolt in the south. The regime was also trying, with strong U.S. military help, to fight al-Qaida.

The government has since lost control of some remote provinces, and al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula and other Islamist extremists have exploited the turmoil to bolster their position.

Saleh's departure will not necessarily end the crisis in Yemen.

For one thing, fighting could continue between the tribal forces and pro-regime units led by loyal members of Saleh's inner circle. In his more than three decades in power, Saleh administered an elaborate patronage system to ensure the loyalty of military officers and some of those beneficiaries would be tempted to continue the fight in the hope of keeping the perks they had enjoyed under the president.

If Saleh's departure causes the regime to collapse, tribal chieftains would want to take credit for the ouster of the regime and get a dominant role in the country's future. Given the conservative politics of tribal leaders, that could well place them on a collision course with the youth groups that have for months staged peaceful demonstrations in Sanaa and across much of the country to demand Saleh's ouster and political reforms.

Saleh, who is in his late 60s, had agreed to transfer power several times, only to step back at the last moment. Analysts said it appeared unlikely Saleh would return to Yemen: The Saudis have tried repeatedly to persuade him to step down and now he is in their care, large segments of the population oppose him, and a powerful tribal alliance took up arms against him.

"Saleh was an inconsistent partner in the war against al-Qaida," said Rick Nelson, a counterterrorism expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "But at least he was partner part of the time."

John Brennan, President Barack Obama's national security adviser, spoke with the Yemeni vice president by telephone on Saturday, a White House official said, but offered no details. Brennan had traveled to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to discuss the crisis during a three-day visit to the Gulf that ended Friday.

Saleh's arrival in Saudi capped a flurry of conflicting reports about his whereabouts and condition that spread after Yemeni government officials and opposition tribal leaders said Saudi King Abdullah had mediated a cease-fire and invited Saleh to seek treatment in the neighboring kingdom. Past cease-fires have not held, but no fighting was reported in Sanaa on Saturday.

Saudi Arabia called "on all parties to exercise restraint and use reason" to keep the country from "sliding into more violence and fighting."

Although the U.S. long stood by Saleh, the Obama administration has been trying to negotiate a stable exit for him as the situation grew more unstable and government forces continued to crack down on dissent, with more than 150 protesters killed since the uprising began in mid-February.