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 An official source at Saleh's General People's Congress (GPC)
party said on Wednesday that the U.S. ambassador to Yemen had
delivered a message through a mediator for Saleh to leave the
country by 5 o'clock (1400 GMT) on Friday or face international
sanctions.
"The GPC statements about threats to Saleh from the U.S. are
untrue," the State Department said in a statement. "There have been
no meetings between the ambassador and GPC officials at which any
such statements have been made."
The GPC official said Washington had delivered an ultimatum for him
to leave or face sanctions that the U.N Security Council is expected
to impose on him in line with requests by President Abd-Rabbu
Mansour Hadi and the U.S. State Department.
 The United States last week requested the U.N. Security Council
impose an asset freeze and global travel ban on Saleh and two
leaders of the Shi'ite Muslim Houthi group which controls Sanaa, on
the grounds that they threatened the peace and stability of Yemen
and obstructed the political process.
The U.S. sanctions request stated that since he stepped down in 2012
following widespread protests, Saleh "reportedly become one of the
primary supporters of the Houthi rebellion" and that he was behind
attempts to cause chaos throughout Yemen.
Saleh has denied seeking to destabilize Yemen.
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A U.N. sanctions committee had been scheduled to discuss the U.S.
request on Tuesday, Nov. 4. Several Western diplomats say the curbs
are expected to come into force on Friday.
Saleh's office described the ultimatum as an unacceptable
intervention in Yemen's internal affairs and vowed to resist it.
"The source urged members of the General People's Congress and its
allies and the masses of the Yemeni people to be alert and to
prepare to confront all possibilities that threaten the security and
stability and unity of Yemen," it said.
(Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari and William Maclean, writing by Sami
Aboudi and ....... .........)
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