Saleh makes surprise return to Yemen

The Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, has returned home after spending three months in Saudi Arabia recovering from a bomb attack at his presidential palace.

His return comes amid clashes between anti-government protesters and troops loyal to the president.

In an urgent news break, Yemen Television announced Friday that he had arrived in the capital, Sanaa:

Ali Abdullah Saleh, president of the republic, returned this morning to the land of the nation safely after a trip for treatment in Riyadh that lasted more than three months.

Media reports said no further details were given.

Saleh has ruled Yemen for more than three decades, and has been facing months of protests demanding his departure.

Al Jazeera reported that seven people were killed Friday as fresh violence erupted upon the news of his return.

A Sanaa-based journalist told the network that activists would “encourage more Yemenis to join the march" and Saleh's return would “also encourage more gunfire”.

Correspondents in Yemen say the news raises the risk of civil war.

Protest organizer Mohammed al-Asl told the BBC:

We're definitely going to have an escalation of violence, but let him come back – we want him to come back and be tried for his crimes.

Since January, anti-government activists have been camped out in an area of the capital, dubbed Change Square.