The king was received at the airport by Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, Prince Naif, second deputy premier and minister of interior, and other senior princes and officials including Riyadh Gov. Prince Salman.
Hundreds of men in white robes performed a traditional Bedouin sword dance on special carpets laid out at Riyadh airport as part of the ceremonies to mark the king’s return.
King Abdullah arrived from Casablanca, where he was recuperating following two surgeries in New York; the first surgery extracted the clot and corrected the disc while the second was to stabilize several vertebrae on the spinal cord. He was discharged from the hospital on Dec. 21.
In a statement on the occasion, Prince Sultan commended the king’s care for citizens. King Abdullah has been following developments in the Kingdom while convalescing.
“He always inquired about the condition of citizens and issued his directives to meet their requirements and enhance their welfare,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted the crown prince as saying.
End item/ 129
