Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh left Sanaa Sunday afternoon, and information revealed that his family has left Yemen also.

Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh left Sanaa Sunday afternoon, and information revealed that his family has left the country also.

AFP reported that “President Ali Abdullah Saleh who announced during a farewell speech on Sunday that he will go the United States for medical treatment has left the capital.”

Saleh has stated earlier Sunday handing over power to his deputy Abd Rabbu Mansour Al-Hadi, assuring that he will not return to presidency after his return from the US, and asking the Yemeni people to forgive him.

“I will go to the United States for treatment and will then return as head of the General People's Congress (GPC) party," Saleh said, adding: “I ask for forgiveness from all my people, men and women, for any shortcomings during my 33-year-long rule.”

This decision came one day after the parliament adopted a law giving Saleh complete immunity from prosecution in return for stepping down under a Gulf-brokered transition deal.

The law was strongly condemned by Tens of thousands of Yemenis who protested Sunday against it  in Sanaa’s Change Square chanting: “It is our duty... to execute the butcher."

The law also offered partial protection from legal action for Saleh's aides, stating his lieutenants cannot be charged for "actions that were politically motivated and carried out in the exercise of their duties."

Moreover, the Yemeni parliament adopted another law approving Saleh's longtime deputy, Vice President Abd rabbu Mansour Al-Hadi, as the consensus candidate in the election for Saleh's successor, due to be held on February 21.