Saleh announced he would visit the United States last month, hours after forces loyal to him killed protesters demanding he face trial for killings during an uprising aimed at ending his 33-year rule.
He would enjoy immunity from prosecution under a deal crafted by his wealthier neighbors and backed by Washington — which long backed Saleh as a pillar of its “counter-terrorism” strategy — aimed at averting civil war by easing him from power.
The United States has said it is considering giving Saleh a visa for medical treatment, a decision critics of the US administration’s Yemen policy have said lends the impression that Washington is sheltering Saleh.
“The idea of President Saleh’s visit to America is now unlikely,” Abdu Al-Janadi, who is a senior figure in Saleh’s political party and Yemen’s deputy information minister, told reporters on Wednesday.
He said members of Saleh’s party asked him to remain and help ensure that the deputy to whom Saleh has formally transferred power succeeds him in an election set for February.
“(They) ... have asked the president not to travel under these circumstances because they fear that if he does, implementation of the Gulf initiative will bog down and the presidential election will be a failure,” Janadi said.
“His staying helps guarantee the success of the national unity candidate, (acting leader) Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.”
