U.S. decision on Yemen risks worsening violence

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Source: CNN International (Josh Levs)

Embattled Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh will be allowed to come to the United States for medical treatment in New York, a senior Obama administration official said Tuesday.

While the White House hopes the move could ease tensions in Yemen, analysts said it could incite further violence, weaken U.S. standing, and potentially help empower al Qaeda.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner, meanwhile, said no decision has been made, and that officials were "adjudicating " the request solely on the merits of Saleh's request for medical treatment. <snip>

The United States does not want to come across as providing safe haven to a dictator responsible for a violent, deadly crackdown on an uprising, (an administration) source said.


Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/27/world/meast/yemen-president/index.html?hpt=hp_t3