According to a State Department press release, "Ali Abdullah Saleh is still the President of Yemen and will be accorded those privileges and immunities accorded to any head of state until a new Yemeni president is sworn in following elections on February 21."
This "landmark presidential election," in Voice of America's words, has been predetermined by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and UN at the direction of Washington and Riyadh. The Wall Street Journal observes (possibly prematurely) that Saleh will "be formally stripped of his title as president on Feb. 21, when his deputy, Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, will become head of state."
Saleh himself is reportedly stuck in Oman, having refused to board a Saudi plane and now in the process of securing a jet from another Gulf state. The Yemeni Embassy in Washington has already confirmed that Saleh will return to Yemen after receiving medical treatment in New York.
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