Sana'a, Yemen  - Somalia's former Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, who resigned last month amid an internal power struggle, arrived in the Yemeni capital Sana'a Tuesday seeking political asylum, Yemeni officials and a Somali diplomat said.

Yemeni officials said Yusuf had expressed his wish to receive political asylum in Yemen until he decides a permanent residence.

A Somali diplomat said Yusuf was accompanied by his wife and 17 other family members and security guards upon his arrival in Sana'a.

"I think he wants to stay in Yemen for a short period, and then he might go to the United Kingdom for medical treatment," the diplomat told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, asking not to be identified.

"When he resigned, he mentioned Yemen as one of the countries in which he wished to live," the diplomat said.

Yusuf resigned on December 29 after political infighting reached new heights when he defied parliament to sack Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein.

Somalia has been has been wracked by conflict since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

The crisis deepened when Ethiopian forces invaded the country two years ago to help kick out a hardline Islamist regime, sparking a bloody insurgency that has killed over 10,000 civilians. (dpa)