Yemen's ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh has asked the United Arab Emirates and the international community to give him $50 million in return for his acceptance to stay in the Gulf state, alahale reported on Thursday, quoting western diplomatic sources.

"The sum was big forcing the UAE stay silent and avoid a reply over its approval to host Saleh," the website said.

Two months ago, the UAE agreed to host Saleh during the two-year transitional period in his country after pressure by the US and Saudi Arabia, but later reports surfaced Saleh might stay in Russia or Ethiopia.
Also, the UAE agreed to host Saleh within the efforts to help Yemen continue a power transfer deal brokered by the GCC countries and backed by the West. The deal saw Saleh leave office in November after 33 years.

Earlier this week, reports said Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi had handed the Ethiopian government a written approval of Yemen's President Abdrabu Mansour Hadi for the African country to host Saleh. Ethiopia demanded the written approval of Hadi, reports said.

The ten countries sponsoring the deal including the GCC, the US, EU have been exercising pressure on Saleh to stop meddling and his relatives, especially senior military commanders, to respect presidential decrees replacing them.