The Obama administration has pressed the 69-year-old Saleh not to return until after Tuesday’s election of Yemen’s vice president as the new leader.
Saleh is accused of rights abuses in a crackdown on protesters. Opponents fear he will continue to wield power behind the scenes.
A US official says Saleh will wait until Wednesday to return.
Meanwhile, Yemeni troops killed three suspected Al-Qaeda members during overnight clashes around the southern city of Zinjibar, which was seized by the group in May, a military source said on Saturday.
"Two members of Al-Qaeda, including a local chief, died when a rocket hit their position in the suburbs of Zinjibar," the source said. In a separate incident, one Al-Qaeda fighter was killed and four others wounded in an exchange of small arms fire, the source added.
In May, militants from the Al-Qaeda branch in Yemen who declare themselves the Partisans of Shariah, took control of Zinjibar, triggering months of fighting between militants and government troops.
So far, at least three tribal-mediated negotiation attempts to secure a militants withdrawal have failed.
Hundreds of people have been killed in the fighting and more than 90,000 residents displaced.
Heavily armed tribes, which play a vital role in Yemeni politics and society, have been joining the army to battle militants linked to Al-Qaeda, who have taken over several regions across the country's south and east.
