YEMEN President Ali Abdullah Saleh, wounded in an attack on his presidential palace, yesterday flew to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment, potentially offering a face-saving end to his three-decade rule.

RIVAL tanks deployed in the streets of Yemen’s capital after three senior army commanders defected to a movement calling for the ousting of the US-backed president, leaving him with virtually no support among the country’s most powerful institutions.

Three senior army commanders defected to anti-government ranks in Yemen today and ordered their tanks on to the capital's streets in a show of force.