Embattled Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, being treated for shrapnel wounds in Riyadh, will not return home, a top Saudi official told AFP on Friday, contrary to Sanaa's claims that he will return soon.

“The Yemeni president will not return to Yemen,” the official said, requesting anonymity.
“It has not been decided where he will stay,” the official added, apparently suggesting that Saleh might eventually leave Saudi Arabia for another country.
The official did not specify whether the decision not to return home was taken by Saleh himself.
The veteran leader was flown to Riyadh on June 4 on board a Saudi medical aircraft, a day after he was wounded in a bomb explosion at a mosque inside his Sanaa presidential compound.
He has not been seen in public since the attack.
Reports on the condition of Saleh's health have been sketchy, but Bahrain's King Hamad was reported to have called him on Thursday, two days after Saudi King Abdullah had a phone conversation with him.
Anti-government protests continue in Yemen
Meanwhile on Friday and Thursday Yemenis protested in the capital, Sana, and in the southern city of Taez, calling on President Saleh to step down.
The protesters also said that while they wanted Saleh to quit, they were not against continued mediation by neighboring Persian Gulf Arab countries, despite the offer being rejected by opposition politicians.
However, youth groups, which make up the bulk of protesters, have previously rejected elements of past deals by the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC), including the prospect that Saleh could be immune from prosecution.
But regardless of Persian Gulf offer, youth groups say their main aim was for Saleh to leave office.
“Our strategic goal is the departure of Ali Abdullah Saleh. When Ali Abdullah Saleh leaves, we will co-operate with the joint coalition, with Abd-Rabbu Mansour (vice-president), we will co-operate with our Arab brothers and the international community for the benefit of Yemen,” protester Safwan Al-Manoufy told Reuters news agency.
Vice-president Mansour Hadi has been acting leader of the country since Saleh left for medical treatment in Saudi Arabia for wounds he sustained in a bomb explosion inside the presidential palace in Sana.
Despite ongoing protests, Hadi has not given in to pressure to form an interim council.
Opposition parties have said they will form their own transitional assembly if Saleh does not cede power but it is not clear whether those parties have any significant influence over many of the protesters.
Photo: Anti-government protesters shout slogans during a rally to demand the ouster of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the southern city of Taez on June 17, 2011. (Reuters photo)