What is the ruling on one who said to his wife, "Observe your 'iddah from me," fleeing from the pronouncement of divorce, and does this differ from his saying, "Observe your 'iddah"?

If someone says to his wife: "Observe your 'iddah (waiting period) from me," and he does not intend divorce, then no divorce occurs. This is because this phrase is an implicit (kinayah) utterance that could mean divorce or something else. If he intended by it the observance of the 'iddah from the marriage, then the ambiguity is removed.